Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Above him, the sky is clear and the sun is shining.

Izuku stared at the sky for what seemed hours taking deep breaths, it was a beautiful day, it almost seemed like the world knew what he had done and it decided to give him this as a sign, a sign that a new brighter chapter for the world had started.

Izuku was exhausted, his body feeling like a bag of rocks after the fight and really he kind of deserved it, more than half of the fight was him going feral with One For All and it's other quirks.

But he had to do it, if he didn't, if he stopped and thinked for even a second he would have died.

A laugh came from beside him, from the other person left in the destroyed battlefield that used to be a city.

All For One, or rather, Hisashi Midoriya, let out a tired laugh as he laid on the ground next to Izuku, his son

"What's so funny?" Izuku asked giving his father, the worlds greatest villain, a glare

"I'm just thinking of the irony of this whole thing, the quirk that I gave my brother, the only one that could defeat me passed down to my only child who has defeated me, quite the poetic ending, don't you think Izuku?" Hisashi said with a smile.

Izuku just rolled his eyes, the man next to him might have been just as tired as Izuku but that wasn't the reason he was on the floor, the real reason was that he was dying.

"You are dying and you are using your last moments to talk to your sworn enemy, seriously?" Izuku asked, annoyed that his father couldn't die any faster.

"You aren't my sworn enemy, really that title only goes to All Might, that annoying blonde was a torn in my side far longer than any other user so he gained that honor" AFO said with the same calmness one would have when talking with a friend

"Am I your sworn enemy Son?" Hisashi asked

"Don't call me that" Izuku said, getting called son by the man who had tried to kill him less than an hour ago made a chill go down his back "but… no, you aren't, that one goes to shigaraki, you are more like my fated rival or something like that"

"fated huh, guess you are right, if you didn't have the quirk you wouldn't have had to fight me and I guess shigaraki did annoy you a lot more than I did" another laugh came from the man, his suit drenched in their blood as he slowly felt his heart begin to slow down, he didn't have long, if he focused the fleetie healing quirks he had he could probably hold on for a few more minutes but his death was inevitable, he looked back to the young man with green hair

"what day is it?" the question surprised Izuku, why did he want to know the date? Izuku was too tired to just say no and really he also wondered what day it was too, maybe he could make it a celebration 'the day the greatest evil was defeated' yeah that sounded nice

He started thinking back, the war started close to a year ago, but the final battle started about two weeks ago and their fight lasted almost two days, both of them too stubborn to just lay down and die, so that would make today… oh

"It's July 15…" Izuku was really seeing the irony of the situation

"Your birthday correct?" His father said

"you… remembered?" Izuku was genuinely surprised, the man that had been missing his entire life, the one he had always assumed never cared about him, remembered his birthday

"why are you so surprised? You are my son, of course I would remember" AFO answered, and he had the guts to sound offended

"well, you never called, visited or even sent any presents so it's not hard to assume that you didn't care about me and mom" Izuku shot back.

Silence fell between them, for a moment he thought that the old man had finally died but it seemed like still had a few more minutes of torture to go through

"Izuku, I always cared about you and your mother" Izuku blinked in surprise hearing what his father said "the reason I left was because I left to fight All Might, I wanted to end it all there, not just the annoying lineage my brother had made but also my life as a villain, after that I just wanted to come back home and have a normal life, sadly, things didn't go as planned"

Izuku stayed silent in shock, he couldn't tell if he was lying or not, the sadness in his voice sounded… genuine.

"that blonde bastard won and I lost my face, I couldn't go back to you like that, so I ran away, I feared that if I went back I could be putting you and your mother in danger, and that brought out my hate for that man, because of what he did to me I couldn't go back to you and your mother, I had lost everything I held dear to me again, but I never stopped caring about the both of you"

"If…" Izuku gulped, he never thought about this but his fathers words caused a bit of curiosity to bloom inside of him "if things had gone in your favour, what was the plan?"

AFO didn't hesitate in answering "I would have taken One For All back, killed All Might and fake my own death, make the fight look like a tie, go back to you and your mother and just… rest" those last words were said with the exhaustion that only a man that has lived for thousands of years could understand

Silence once again fell between the two, Izuku taking in the words, the confession his father gave him and the many mixed feelings that came with it.

He hated this man, he was the cause of so many deaths including the people he cared about, his friends, teachers, all of them died just to give him the chance to fight, so many died for just one simple win.

but after hearing this, deep inside of him, he felt… happy, happy to hear that his father cared about him, that not being with them affected him just as much as it did to them.

He felt angry, angry that it was now that he was saying all of this, in their last moments together, that he didn't try harder to reach them.

He felt sad… sad that his father was dying, this one was the most confusing, he had felt sad, sometimes depressed when his friends died, but he couldn't understand why he felt sad for a man he barely knew, he didn't want to cry but he was too damn tired to stop the tears

"Son… I'm sorry for making this probably your worst birthday ever" AFO said, it was getting harder to breath, he wasn't sure if it was because of his dying body or the guilt of his actions finally catching up to him.

He wanted to do something, anything to make this day a little better for Izuku, because that's what parents do, they try to make their kids feel better but how could he… maybe that…

"Izuku, if you could, would you want to see your friends again?" he asked

"What… what kind of question is that?" Izuku asked back, confused as to where this was going.

"Just humor your old man in his last moments would you?" Izuku rolled his eyes but he couldn't help the sad smile that formed in his face remembering the fun times he had with his friends as he closed his eyes, back when everything was fine, when they were just students and not child soldiers.

"yeah, I would love to see them again…"

Izuku couldn't see it but from the tips of the dying mans fingers, a small black and red tentacle formed and slowly made its way towards the green haired boy too deep in his own memories to notice the danger.

"Son" Hisashi said making Izuku open his eyes just enough to see the tentacle pierce his chest stabbing him right in the heart, soon after came a wave of electricity that ran through his entire body, he screamed as excruciating pain clouded his own mind, his body spasming, his blood boiling him from the inside and yet somehow, he heard his fathers voice loud and clear "Happy Birthday"

Then, his world went dark.

--------

Izukus body felt sore.

Not as heavy as before but he is tired and there’s a strange ringing in his ear, he moves feeling the cold asphalt beneath him, the soft material from his suit not there anymore and instead replaced by something a lot more loose.

When the ringing finally stops, letting the sounds from the world come back to him, he focuses on the voices around him.

“-so happy to see you again little brother, isn’t this the best? All the family is here!”

“Back off you old bastard”

“WHY WON’T YOU DIE!?”

“Come on Shimura, that’s no way to treat your guest, what happened to your manners?”

“Can we please try to focus on the situation at hand and then try to kill him later?”

Izuku recognised the voices and the name so that meant that he must be inside One For All again, he must have passed out or something, but why was Nana screaming?

“Uhm guys, the little guy is waking up”

Izuku was finally able to sit up, the soreness in his body slowly disappearing and he opens his eyes only to wince when the light hits them… wait, light?

Izuku takes a moment to let his eyes focus only to discover that he isn’t inside One For All unless they changed it and made it look like a dirty alley, he looked around his eyes falling on the ghostly figures of the past users around him, they seemed to freeze when they realize that he was looking at them and not through them.

But there was someone sticking out, a man with white curly hair, he didn’t recognize them and the situation only confused him more since they had their arm around first almost as if they were… family

Things clicked into place, All For One, their fight, the war, his mistake.

In a panic, Izuku quickly stood up in a fighting stance and activated full cowl at fifty percent but instead of feeling his body lighter thanks to the boost, instead his body screamed at him in pain as his muscles almost feel like they would tear to pieces and that his bones could shatter if he took a step.

“W-what?” Izuku said surprising himself even more when his voice didn’t come out with the usual deep and gruff voice he had gotten used to, insted, his voice was much higher and softer, more like the one of a teenager than an adult.

That’s when he finally looks at himself only to not find his hero suit but instead see a middle school uniform on him, the ground seemed closer too, he passed a hand through his hair only to realise that his ponytail wasn’t there anymore, he had pulled his hair into one since he had been to busy to get it cut, this also made him look at his own hands and see that they weren’t littered in scars and they were much smaller than normal, the only thing he could recognize from his outfit were his signature red shoes on his feet.

He looked around at the ghostly figures waiting for them to do something but they just stood still like they were invisible “What… what happened?” he asked, making them snap and look at eachother.

Nana was the first to react as she looked at him with a nervous smile “Kid… can you… see us?” she asked

Izuku raised a brow at her question “of course I can see you, why wouldn’t I?”

The OFA users looked at each other for a moment only to look back at the two white haired people here, first glaring at the taller man.

First was glaring at All For One, Hisashi, his father.

“What is he doing here?” Izuku asked looking at Hisashi with a glare of confusion and anger

“You wound me son, is it wrong for a father to want to spend time with his kid?” he said with a smile on his face which only helped in annoying Izuku further.

“Tells us what you did, you bastard, where are we and why does Izuku look like that?” Nana asked but anyone could hear the anger in her words glaring at AFO who was still smiling and holding first who kept trying his best to try and get out of his grasp but found that he was too weak to push their arm off him.

“All I did was give my son his birthday gift and my apology gift too” he answered waving his hand in the air like nothing of this was a big deal.

Izuku tuned out when Nana started to swear at his father again only to look at himself again, he recognized the uniform, it was from aldera, his old middle school he was in before going to UA, as he looked at his clothes he noticed just how much of a mess he was, a few parts were torn like someone had slashed at him with a knife and some places it even looked burned, he recognized the smell, burned sugar.

Bakugo.

The last time he had seen him he had stayed back to take on an entire pack of nomus from reaching him and the other survivors they had tried to rescue, in one final attempt he decided to blow himself up along with all the other monsters, he had gone out with a bang and honored his hero name ‘Ground Zero’

Izuku came back to the present when he felt something in his pocket vibrate, he pulled it out to see his old phone, the one he had before it broke and Mei made one for him, it was weird holding it feeling that it was heavier than mei’s design.

He turned it on and his eyes widened

His eyes focused on the date, he watched the clock change and he bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to make sure he wasn’t dreaming

“Two… years…” he muttered catching everyone’s attention.

“It’s two years before I met All Might…” Izuku said looking wide eyed at his father

Above him, the sky is clear and the sun is shining.

Chapter Text

Izuku could only stare in shock at the ghostly figures in front of him.

Two years.

He had been sent back in time two years before he met All Might.

Two years before he got into UA.

Two years before he got One for All.

“What the hell did you do?” Nana asked, her focus back on Hisashi as he just smiled

“Like I said, it’s my birthday gift to my son” he answered, only confusing the others and making Nana angrier.

“But… but how, is this an illusion or a dream, what did you do to me?” Izuku asked, waiting for a proper answer from the culprit.

“Son, I know you are smarter than this, you’ve already figured out the answer haven’t you?, you just don’t want to accept it” His father said finally letting go of his little brother who quickly moved away from him.

He was right, he knew but the answer was just too imposible.

“But… but how? there have never been any records of any quirk that could mess with time, even more one that could send someone four years into the past!” He was right, he didn’t want to accept it because it was just impossible, a quirk like that would never go unnoticed by either the villains or the heroes.

“Well, long story short, this quirk appeared in the early ages, the news spread like wildfire, a quirk with that kind of ability would never go unnoticed so I acted quickly, I stole the quirk from the young boy and then spread the lie that the quirk had been nothing more than a lie and just like that, no more time travelling quirk” AFO explained, again, like it was no big matter “Sadly the downside is that the one who has it can’t use it on themselves, I was able to send chairs back to an hour but if I couldn’t use it on myself to fix a mistake I made than I saw it as useless so I stopped using it and then forgot I even had it until the end of our fight”

Everyone just looked in silent shock at the man who confessed to have the power to manipulate time and call it useless.

“So… what happened to Izuku? Is he just gone?” Daigoro asked, Hisashi brought a hand to his chin as he thought of an answer, a chill ran through Izuku’s back as he realized that he used to do that same pose a lot.

“It’s hard to say, I never dare try messing with that part of the quirk since I didn’t want to cause some kind of time anomaly but if I had to guess… we have two possibilities” Hisashi raised two fingers as everyone watched him “the first possibility is that when I sent Izuku back, I created a parallel timeline to ours meaning that our original timeline is still progressing just without him, the second option is that I sent back Izuku in the same timeline but thanks to the different actions that have already been made, the future we know has been erased and a new one has been made”

Izuku felt as something started to form in him, a warm feeling that he had forgotten about “So… are they…” Izuku couldn’t finish his sentence as his hands trembled.

His father just nodded.

Tears wasted no time to start pouring down his face, not from sadness but from happiness, his friends were alive, he could see them again, wet laughs came spilling out from his throat as relief washed through his body, he could save them, he had another chance to stop their sacrifices.

His knees finally gave up on him as he crumbled to the ground once again feeling as if the weight of the world had finally been taken off his shoulders.

“Now that I think about it… didn’t you mention something about an apology gift?” Fourth asked, letting Izuku catch his breath

“Ah! Yes, I had almost forgotten about it! but I don’t need to explain that one, you can easily tell yourselves can’t you?” the familiar dark smile appeared on Hisashis face causing everyone to freeze, Izuku who had managed to stand back up again looked at himself once more.

He looked normal, as normal as being in your younger body gets, but aside from that nothing looks off, so maybe…

Izuku closed his eyes focusing on One For All, he felt it react as the energy flowed through his body just like his own blood did but something felt… off.

He focused again trying to figure out what it was, it almost felt as if something had latched itself with- Izuku opened his eyes in shock as he fell to the ground again holding his head in his hands as it throbbed with pain because of the information flooding to it, energy had shot through him all at once, too different, too strong, he looked at his father who had a smile still on his face, he looked pleased with himself.

First marched forward and grabbed his brothers shirt and brought his face down to his level, a murderous glint in his eyes 

“Why does he have your quirk?” First demanded.

Hisashi just laughed “I knew that killing the people who he cared about would be something unforgivable so I started thinking on something to try and make up for it, I couldn’t bring them back to life and I doubt he would have like nomu versions of them as his underlings so I thought that if in our fight he proved to be worthy I would give him my own power, just like you brother”

First pushed him back, anger clear in his face and screamed “I am not like you!”

Hisashi laughed, the smile never disappearing “How I have missed those tantrums of yours, I sure am glad that we are all back together”

The mood did not fit the smile he wore, the hatred pouring out of Nana and First, how every other user tried to stay away from him and even Izuku whose emotions have yet to settle after the roller coaster that he went through.

“Izuku” Midoriya looked back up to his father who now had curiosity gleaming in his eyes “Now that you know the power you hold and the new chance that you have been given, what is it that you will do?”

Hisashi waited for an answer, his little brothers quirk was strong by itself but now that it had his own, added with all of the quirks he had, he had become a one man army, he was in a whole other level that no one would ever be able to reach but him, this kind of power would allow someone to not only conquer a nation but the entire world itself, and he wondered, what would the child of the greatest evil, the successor of the symbol of peace do with it?

Izuku looked at his trembling hand, he could feel them now, the thousands of quirks that now lived inside of him, their power could be his with only a thought, he closed his fist as a flame inside of him roared to life, he looked once more at his father, determination clear in his eyes, he had a mission and he was going to accomplish it and all this man did was give him the tools necessary for it.

Izuku stood up once more, this time his legs not shaking in the slightest as he looked forward “I’m going to save my friends and stop you for good”

All For One could only let out a laugh at his son's answer, what was it that Kazue used to call him? he was too stubborn for his own good “Then I hope you give me a good show”

Midoriya smiled and took his first steps into his second try at his life, behind him, the other users behind him every step of the way and his father walking beside him looking at the world around them.

But first things first, he needed a plan of action.

Chapter Text

“Alright, we are doing this… right?” third asked.

Izuku had now been standing for five minutes in front of the door to his and his mothers place, he didn’t know why but he was really nervous to see his mother again, how long was the last time he visited her, a lot of stuff had happened in his life from staying at the UA dorms, training and getting dragged into a war had really taken most of his time so he had no chance to go and see his mother again.

In a strange surprise, Izuku wasn’t the only one nervous about opening the door, during the walk, his father had tried multiple times to strike up conversation even if the best he got was a lot of angry answers from Nana but the closer they got, the quieter he became until finally, he stood quietly looking at the door.

Izuku took a deep breath in and unlocked the door with his keys.

The small cozy apartment immediately brought back memories to Izuku, the times him and his mother sat together at the table and talked about their day, when they would cook meals together or when she would listen to him rambling about the latest hero news.

“Izuku welcome back, how was- You’re crying! Izuku did something happen!?” Only until his mother pointed it out when she came to greet him did he realize that she was right, tears had somehow already formed in his eyes and even began rolling down his face without him even noticing, the refreshing atmosphere, the feeling of warmth from seeing his mother it all was enough to finally break down the wall he tried to put up for so long.

He tried wiping away the tears but more just kept falling down but it didn’t matter to him, he smiled at his mother “sorry mom, everything is fine I’m just really happy to see you” these words made Inko smile and making a few small tears form in her eyes, she hugged her son and Izuku gladly accepted the warm hug.

The other users smiled at the scene but decided to give the mother and son privacy by leaving  to another room, first turned back to look at his older brother who stayed in his place looking at his own family, in his face rested a small tired smile but the look in his eyes was a far away one, the same look of someone remembering an event of a long time ago, but what called his attention was the trembling hand beside him, he looked like he wanted to move but couldn’t bring himself to do it, he turned around and left, his own hands slightly shaking.

By the time the mother and son duo had finally stopped crying more than a few tears had been shed on eachothers clothes but they easily went back to their usual routine, Izuku helping with their meal and surprising his mother since the last time he helped he still needed her guidance but it almost looked like he had been doing this for his entire life, Izuku could only smile at the compliment as he looked at the pot, the smell bringing memories of the times he cooked meals with his friends, a nice warm meal with your loved ones is more than enough to fill your stomach and refill your spirits.

The dinner was like any other family would have, questions like how was your day? was there something good in the news? questions like these were thrown around but even so for Izuku who spent his days fighting, for him who watched both friends and teacher fall in front of him, this was a moment that was a special treasure for him.

When Izuku got to his room the other users were already waiting for him, he cringed a little when he saw just how much All Might memorabilia there was.

“Alright, so what are you going to do?” asked Nana as she sat on his bed.

Izuku raised a hand to his chin as he started to think. As much as he would like to just go to the leagues hideout and beat their asses into next monday, with his body in the state it was in and with the new variable of all for one thrown into the mix it would be too dangerous to try it, so the first thing he should do is…

“I need to get back to how I was before, right now I don’t even think I can use full cowl without crippling myself, so the best place to start would be with my training” Izuku had to accept that his body right now was as good as a wet noodle

“If I may ask, why not just use some of the strengthening quirks you now have to make your body suitable to use one for all, it would make things much more faster” his father said while looking at an empty space in the wall, all the all might stuff made him really uncomfortable and angry.

Izuku had thought about that idea but... “it might be a good idea to get a quick start but it would do us more harm in the future, I need to get my body used to this power again and if I used quirks right now my training would probably not give the same results as it did before, they might even be worse” it was a high risk to try it and high risks is not something Izuku wants right now so he needed to take the safe route even if it was slower.

“Well, might as well, but after that what are you going to do? by checking your memories I can see that it only took you a few months to clean it, are you going to use the remaining time to just train?” Asked his father.

Izuku just shook his head, training for two years could be a good idea but for this it would just be stupid since he would have a lot more freedom in UA then he does now so it would be better to give it his all then but for now he has a plan.

“I hate to say it but I’m going to take a page out of Shigarakis book” Izuku sat down, grabbed one of his empty notebooks and a pencil as and began to write “The best way to look at this would be as a videogame with different kinds of quests, the main and most important quest would be defeating the living AFO, the second one would be to beat Shigaraki since he is the successor, the third one would be to stop Overhaul because of his quirk erasing bullets, those would be our main quests but we also have a few side quests, their not important but they would make things easier down the line”

“We need to beat the league before they become too strong, I have to get my friends' trust back and we have to save Eri” Izuku finished, the other users deep in thought as they thought of their own plans.

“Well, we can leave any kind of fights out right now, like you said, you are in no condition to fight and you won’t meet your friends in two more years so… that’s a no in everything” second says making everyone look at Izuku.

“Well… not really, it would be foolish to try and go into a war with no kind of information on your enemies and I still remember the information we dug up on the league when we went to war in the future” Izuku changes to another page and begins writing again “Right now, more than half of the league is missing with only Shigaraki and Kurogiri, most of them start to join after the Stain incident and I did think about it, I can’t fight them but maybe there is another way to weaken them, all of the members are people which society and heroes failed to help but if I’m able to convince them to come into our side, we might have an advantage” Izuku wrote down the different names of the leagues members “Shigaraki is definitely a no, Kurogiri is a maybe but I have no idea how to bring back his memories, twice and spinner are also off the list, Dabis entire existence is to make his father pay even if it means his life so making him would be impossible, he’s literally too angry to die and most of the others are horrible villains that enjoy murder like a past time, leaving only one option” Izuku had crossed out the others name and drew a cirlce around the last one “Himiko Toga, right now she is in middle school and is the same age as me in a few years she will go in a rampage and start killing her classmates but if I play my cards right I might be able to not only stop her but convince her to get on our side”

His father clapped “Quite a genius plan, that girl Toga was an important piece in a lot of key fights and after her quirk evolved she became a formidable adversary to all of you so taking her away from the league is a big blow to their strength” Izuku felt his stomach turn when he got praise from that man, he is both happy that someone likes his plan but he really wants it to be literally anyone else.

“Well I have to admit, that’s good but it doesn’t seem like you are done” Third said giving Izuku a smile, the users saw the familiar glint in his eyes, that look in his eyes meant that Izuku was determined and nothing would be stopping him.

“Is it that obvious? Well I do have a plan for getting my friends' trust back, I know of one who I could bet you right now is praying for a hero to come and save him” Izuku smiled as the memories started to come back.

“You know, I’ve told you about my childhood so how about you tell me about yours?” Izuku asked, he and his friend sat alone in front of a campfire, it was their turn to keep watch as the others slept, their friend let out a tired laugh.

“Well, I guess that’s only fair” Their friend passed their hand through their messy hair as they took a deep breath “My childhood wasn’t the best, at the beginning I had a good family but when my quirk came in things changed, my parents were afraid of me and they worried how I could affect how their own friends saw them so they gave me away, left me in an orphanage to take care by myself, the kids there called me names, bullied me, hurt me, all because of a thing I couldn’t even control” they let their gaze fall to the floor “Then, I was finally adopted, I had a small hope that things would be better, that I would have someone that cared for me but all of those expectations were stomped out soon enough, those bastards treated me like their personal slave, took out their anger on me when something went wrong” They looked at their clenched fists, their knuckles turning white and anger brewing in their eyes until it all disappeared leaving a smile under their tired eyes, their hands falling to their lap.

“I spent every night praying that one day a hero, someone could come and save me, to get me out of that dark place I was trapped in” they looked up at the night sky illuminated by stars, a soft smile on their face “and you know what Izuku, even if it took longer than I expected, I think you were the answer to those prayers”

In another part of town, a young boy with a head of wild purple hair, looked up at the sky with bags under his eyes and bruises covering his skin as their small and thin form trembled, Shinsou took in a shaky breath of air as small tears began to form in his eyes and let out a whisper as he looked at the stars “please… anyone…”

Chapter Text

“I… I can’t believe I forgot about this…” 

Izuku now stood in front of a place he thought he would never come back too.

His old school, Aldera.

“I’m surprised you forgot about it, shouldn’t this have been one of your main concerns at this age?” Third asked, Izuku couldn’t say anything back since he knew he was right, he had been too busy looking at the big picture, trying too hard to make a plan for the future that he forgot about the present.

“So, what’s the plan?” First asked looking at him meanwhile Nana and his father were giving glares to the other kids that walked by, some snickered at him, others looked at him with disgust, he sighed, he needed to remind himself that he wasn’t “Deku: Last user of One For All” but just... Deku, the quirkless loser.

Now, a plan sounded nice but he had forgotten about this so he had nothing to go off on so his best option was to just take a deep breath and try to fit in.

Izuku began walking into the school trying to ignore the whispers and laughs, t he other users quickly followed after him, the only one who stayed at the entrance of the school was Hisashi, he looked in surprise at how easily his son, the one who took him, the greatest villain, down put on a mask of a frail and scared child with such ease.

He had a vague idea of what his son had gone through since he had gotten pieces of his memories when he gave him his quirk but since the transition was forced, he didn’t have the ability to just see his memories like the other vestiges but with this, the laughs, the whispers, the looks, he could easily figure it all out.

In his time away from them, Inko regularly called him, sometimes he answered and others he couldn’t, it depended on his schedule of stealing quirks and plotting All Might’s demice.

One day, Inko had called him, he was still resting from his fight with All Might but he still wanted to hear her voice so he let her go to voicemail since he could barely use his vocal cords, she told him about how her day went, asked how his job was, how her relationship with her friends was but through it all he heard as her voice shaked until she finally spoke of him, Izuku.

The news were not good, their son was quirkless and they were both in pieces, he knew about Izuku’s dream of being a hero even if it pained him, he could never say no to his bright smile when he talked about helping others, she broke down into sobs as she poured her little heart out to an answering machine and all he could do was listen.

That had been the only call in which she talked about that but he could clearly hear the stress in her voice but even with that burden on her she always gave it her best for their son.

Now that he looked at how his life went with that curse he couldn’t help but feel… guilty.

He may have had one of the strongest quirks that have existed, he may have lived for more than a century but even with all of that, he was still a first generation.

His genes were those of a first generation so if he ever were to have children, the chances of them being quirkless were astronomically higher than any other in this day and age so for some reason, even if he knew that he couldn’t have done anything, he couldn’t help but feel guilty since he had already ruined his child's life from the start.

Izuku kept walking around the school as slowly the layout of it came back to his mind, he tried walking without catching much attention but it was hard since the other kids kept going out of their way to trip him or call him names, he had already been tripped twice in the way to his classroom.

“These kids are completely rotten” fourth said, looking at the kids laughing at him as he picked up his things from the floor.

Its okay Izuku thought, thankfully he could talk to them in his head or else people would definitely think of him as insane which was not something he needed added to the list I’m used to it

“That’s the problem kid, you shouldn’t be” Nana said as she walked next to him but he froze once he saw the door to his classroom, the one he spent four years being tortured but there was one thing that made him walk in.

And those were the red eyes that immediately centered on him.

His childhood friend, his best teammate and his bully, Bakugo Katsuki.

To be completely honest, Izuku would be in tears from seeing his best friend once again after seeing him die but he was a little busy by the pain of being kicked to the ground by that same person.

“Well look who came today, little nerd Deku” Bakugo stood in front of him looking down at him with a wicked smile on his face as behind him the other students in the classroom laughed “It seems like yesterday's leason was not enough for you so how about we give you another one?” his hand lit up with light as sparks began to fly like little fireworks, Izuku still wanted to cry and he couldn’t help the small tears forming, don’t get him wrong, these were happy tears but the situation really helped to hide their meaning.

Everyone stopped when the teacher walked in and looked at the students, when he looked at Izuku, instead of tired they just looked annoyed and they only let out a sigh as they put their papers on their desk “Izuku please don’t annoy Bakugo so early in the morning” The teacher said placing the entire fault on him, slowly the students got to their seats including Bakugo who gave Izuku one last look which quickly gave the message that this would continue.

Izuku got to his own seat and got his notebook, no one ever paid attention to him and the notebook incident wouldn’t happen until a few more years so he decided to bring his newest notebook, he had called it ‘notes for the future’ so that it could be passed on as one of his hero analysis ones but in this one all he had been writing was his plan from his past memories.

“I can’t believe the teacher just ignored you like that, isn’t their job supposed to help their students?” His father said with anger and confusion as he glared at the teacher, fourth scoffed.

“That would be the case but with Izuku having the label of quirkless, even the teachers think of him as worthless, and with the strongest kid in the class hating his guts, the other students have no other choice but side with him and ignore him or join in” Izuku frowned, it was true that most of the other kids ignored it when he was beaten down or joined in when they had the chance, but they were just scared, they were scared of being targeted if they were kind to him so they chose the safe option.

Izuku focused back into his notebook where his notes where, they were divided into two, the section based around Shinsou and the other one based around Toga, he had been thinking about the best way to approach both of them and he found that the best way to approach the blonde would be when she left school and for the hypnotist, that one had become a little more complicated but if he played his cards right, he should be able to gain his trust quickly.

Looking up information on Toga’s school was less than legal since he needed to hack into various different websites to find information on what school she was in, he wasn’t entirely proud of having hacking skills since he didn’t want to go against someone's privacy but he convinced himself with this being for the greater good, he had discovered that she left a little later than he did but the walk he would need to do between his school and hers was still long meaning that he would need to leave as soon as possible. 

Shinsou would end up growing up with the idea that his quirk was evil and thus he hated the idea of people with much stronger quirks and the years it took for someone to help him created deeply rooted trust issues and a darker look on heroes, so a good start would be to make him understand that his own power could be used for good and try to get him a new house, preferably with eraserhead and present mic but the how ended up looking a bit… illegal since he needed to make him see that quirks don’t mean everything and that there are people who care so he would need to take up the mantle of vigilantism again, he hadn’t thought about it since the time he ran away from UA.

“Midoriya” Izuku snapped back to the present as the teacher called his name, his teacher looked excited for some reason “since you seem so uninterested in the class how about you tell me the answer to this question?” Izuku looked at the chalkboard and was surprised because the question looked a little too advanced for the level of a middle schooler.

‘what is the equivalent of the following logarithmic function in exponential form? 4=log 3 81’

Izuku blinked a few seconds, he may look like a normal child, he shouldn’t know the answer to this, but the one thing they didn’t expect was that the Izuku from the future was actually an incredible analyst and had years of advantage on his class when it came to his studies and it only took him a few seconds before he blurted out the answer “it’s 81= 3⁴” The excitement in his teachers face fell as they looked back between Izuku, the chalkboard and the book which they pulled the question out of only to give up with an angry look “correct…” the teacher then erased the question and continued with the class.

Izuku just shrugged that off since the teacher didn’t call on him again for the rest of the class.

The rest of the day came and went before he knew it and he was ready to leave and get his first step of his plan started but someone had a few different ideas.

“Where the hell do you think you are going in such a hurry?” Bakugo and his followers blocked the exit of the classroom as he planned to continue where he left off “I bet you are just trying to run away like a little bitch” Izuku froze in place since he couldn’t really think of what to do in this situation.

His exit was blocked by two other kids, a girl who had could control her hair and a boy who could make his arms into stone, if he was older, he could have easily dodged them but in his current state, even if he managed to pass one, the other one would easily catch him but he would also need to get past Bakugo who could not only catch him but cut his path with his explosions.

Izuku was brought out of his own head by a loud bang and the smell of burned sugar, before he realized Bakugo had placed his hand on his chest and made a small explosion which was still strong enough to burn his clothes and burn his chest, the strength of the explosion pushing him to the ground.

He was stunned for a moment as he tried to breathe but quickly he noticed that something was wrong, the pain was quickly fading away faster than normal and his own body felt like it was charged with electricity almost like when he uses… One For All.

Izuku closed his eyes and faked being in pain and raised his hands to his chest to not let his bullies see the now fading scar, instead he began to focus on his quirk as he tried to figure out why it had activated on its own.

Izuku opened his eyes to find himself in the familiar void of One For All but he took a step back at the sight in front of him.

Right in front of him a strange small ball was exuding massive amounts of energy, almost looking like a massive bonfire, deep down he recognized this to be the core of One For All, but he wasn’t using it so why was it active?

He then turned his attention to the sky which gave him an even more supring sight, in the place where an empty void of darkness should be, it was now illuminated by thousands of stars of different colors, all shining down at him but for some reason he also felt the sensation that they were looking at him, a beautiful and confusing sight for him.

He also saw that the energy that the core was releasing was actually being absorbed by a few of the stars, more specifically, the ones that were green, they sucked the energy almost like black holes would and shined brighter than the others.

Izuku flinched and clutched his head as information rushed into his head, these stars were the quirks that All For One had, the green ones were healing quirks, the ones active right now were some that activated when the user was hurt but one of them would take the users stamina to heal them, another would use what the user ate as fuel to heal them but he didn’t tired nor hungry.

“My oh my, this is quite the surprising turn of events” The voice of his father came from behind him, Izuku turned around to see both his father and first (should he call him uncle?) looking at the same scene he saw “It seems like our quirks work quite well together, don’t you think brother?”

First scoffed, not even giving the man a glance and instead talked to Izuku “If you’re confused, it seems like the quirks that he brought that would usually take something from their user are instead taking the energy they need from the core, meaning that you somehow bypassed their requirements”

“Indeed, and the more energy you give them the stronger the effects, that means a lot of possibilities for you” His father then took on a pout as he crossed his arms “but I’m so jealous, do you know how many stamina related quirks I stole so I didn’t pass out from the first punch I took?”

“Don’t know and don’t care” First answered getting an annoyed look from his older brother “This… changes a lot of things but we’ll have to talk about it later, for now just get back out there and let’s get the plan on the road” First waved his hand and the void disappeared as it pushed Izuku back into reality.

He snapped back only to see the classroom empty, Bakugo and his goons must have left at some point leaving him alone.

He looked down at his chest and saw that there wasn’t even a scratch from the explosion, he quickly stood up and grabbed his things as he ran out the classroom, he would love to look more into this but first was right, he needed to start the plan.

And he needed to hurry because the clock was already running.

Chapter Text

“Okay, this should be a good place” Izuku panted as he looked around the park he had run to, after investigating on Toga he found this park which was close to her school and many of the students went to visit, hopefully he would be lucky and he could catch her before she left for her house.

The sun was at its peak and he had ran all the way here so he moved to stand under the shadow of one of the trees, he looked around and saw parents, young kids and various students all of them wearing a similar uniform to his the only differences being how instead of black theirs was a white dress shirt and a light blue blazer with the emblem of their school on their arm but amongst all of them, there was no sign of the blonde girl, he knew that she looked different but she was nowhere to be seen, maybe he had been too late and she had already- “Saito?” Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine as he recognized the voice, he turned faster than he intended, surprising the short blonde girl behind him.

He had already seen her picture but seeing her in person somehow made it seem more real just how different she was from the killer that he knew, she was much shorter than before, her familiar messy buns were gone leaving her straight blonde hair to reach her shoulders, she wore a white dress shirt under a black vest and the same light blue blazer as her classmates, the only thing that told him it was Toga was her golden yellow colored eyes and thin slits.

“Freckles…” she softly muttered as she looked at him until she finally snapped out of it with a small blush “Ah! sorry, I thought you were someone from my class, it's just that both of you have fluffy hair but he doesn’t have freckles and in the shadows I thought your hair was black like his and I-” Toga suddenly stopped her rambling when Izuku let out a laugh.

“Sorry sorry, it’s just that the way you started panicking was really funny, I’m not that Saito guy but my name is Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you” Izuku smiled and stretched out his hand to her, in reality the smile and laugh were all fake since his body was telling him to try and run or fight the girl in front of him before she could get any kind of sharp object in her hands, he still remembered just how dangerous Toga from his timeline was.

Toga blinked a few times before she smiled and shaked Izuku’s hand “I’m Himiko Toga, pleasure to meet you! What are you doing here? Do you live close?” she innocently asked, he just couldn’t tell her that he was here because of her so he thought up a lie.

“Well,I’m actually waiting on some friends since they wanted to hang out here” Izuku said with an excited smile on his face, this was one of the best lies he could come up with since most people would assume that he had friends and it also gave him a reason to just stand alone and not look weird “what about you Toga, are you here with your friends?” he asked

Her shoulders dropped a little “Not… really, I’m actually here alone, I just like coming to this park since it's so… peaceful” For a moment, her expression changed from one of happiness to a sorrowful one, he had seen her sad before, mostly because she couldn’t kill one of her classmates or someone else but this one felt… different.

“Well, I’m going to be waiting for a while until they arrive so, want to chat for a bit?” Izuku asked which seemed to raise Toga’s mood as she gave him a bright smile.

The two of them talked for a while under the tree, Izuku learned a bit more about the girl, she really was different at the one he knew, she was friends with her entire class and had good grades but for some reason the topic of quirks was always avoided, not by him but she always seemed to change the conversation when it went near it, another weird thing is that she didn’t talk about her family, she mentioned in passing that she had an older sister but not once did she ever talk about her parents.

It was strange but for some reason, maybe it was because he knew the future Toga, the way she acted almost seemed… forced.

The sound of chimes interrupted made their conversation come to a halt and even weirder was when Toga took her phone out and checked something, and panic flickered on her face before quickly disappearing, if it had been anyone but Izuku they might have missed it completely “Sorry Izuku but I have to go but it was really nice talking to you”

“Oh, that’s okay, I enjoyed talking to you too… would it be okay if we talked again another time?” Izuku said, Toga stopped and looked conflicted but only for a second as she smiled at him but this one felt just a little less fake.

“I’d love to!” Toga and Izuku exchanged numbers so that they could keep in contact, he waved at the blonde girl as she walked away and when she finally disappeared after taking a turn he let out a sigh.

“That was a lot more stressful than I expected…” Izuku turned from the park and kept walking until he found an empty dark alley that he thought of as good enough.

“You handled it very well back then, for a second it seemed like you were going to punch her” fourth said and the worst thing is that he wasn’t wrong.

“It was just my instincts acting up and after more than a few years of her trying to kill me, seeing her act so friendly made me feel weird” Izuku shuddered as he remembered the strangely normal conversation the had but then he remembers “Did any of you notice anything weird on how she acted?”

“Apart from her not being a serial killer, nothing really, she was just a normal middle school girl” third said.

“And that’s exactly what's wrong” first said catching everyone's attention “one doesn’t just start killing out of nowhere, they need a reason, something that triggers something inside of them like a kind of accident that makes them turn to villany”

Hisashi just shook his head “Little brother, I don’t think your knowledge in comic book heroes is going to help us solve this case, so if you could just leave it to the adults that would be very kind of you”

Before first could answer Nana spoke “No no, he’s got a point, many villains I fought back in my day had some kind of reason, be it money, revenge, a grudge or simply because they enjoyed the thrill of it, but that’s only a few of them who have a small goal like that, but the thing is, Toga looked fine, I still don’t see why she would become a villain in the first place”

“maybe… something caused her to snap” Izuku began “Through the entire thing I had this strange feeling where she wasn’t being honest and… it reminded of myself, always just being kind, smiling and her expression looked similar to mine”

“Okay, that’s a good theory but what would have caused her to snap so suddenly?” fifth asked “Her time at school seems fine so we can take it off the list”

“So you are saying that it’s something outside of her school life, maybe her family?” sixth said, it was a good theory but it couldn’t just be restricted to her family, maybe a group was messing with her and the stress finally brought her to insanity.

There were too many possibilities and he barely had any information on this version of Toga, the best thing to do now was wait and see if he could gain any more information from here and if it came down to it, he could probably follow her home and see for himself.

But for now, as red lighting sparked around Izuku as he activated a few body enhancing quirks at once and then the familiar green sparks of full cowl as he used two percent of One For All, he jumped shooting upwards and landing on the roof of a building, he needed to head home and begin the second art of his plan.

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Night soon fell on the city, the time Izuku had been waiting for, now wearing a red hoodie to cover his hair, a black face mask that covered his freckles, weighted gloves, a pair of knee pads and steel toed black shoes that he had stolen from a few stores, he was wearing these clothes because they are the exact opposite of what Izuku Midoriya would wear so like this he was trying to throw people off his tail by breaking his whole green dress code, he felt a little guilty but he had no time to waste on trying to get gear so this was the best choice.

“So far, what do you think of my quirk son? that warping quirk made stealing those items much easier and I told you that using those body enhancing quirks to use One For All was a good idea” Hisashi proudly said, Izuku was still not used to having him around and even less using the quirks he stole from others but if he wanted to have a chance at changing his future he would need to use every weapon in his arsenal.

He concentrated as he felt a kind of list of the different quirks he possessed appear in his mind, he searched through it to find the ones he would need “Strength enhancer three times, Healing booster four times, Blackwhip, smokescreen… this should be a good combination of quirks but maybe a few more amplifier quirks wouldn’t be bad, so let’s put OFA energy output at 30 percent to make them stronger…” Izuku kept muttering as he prepared his quirks, the vestiges felt a shiver run down their spines as they finally saw a scary resemblance to his father who looked proudly at his son.

Red sparks surrounded Izuku as the quirks were filled with energy, the strength enhancers putting his body somewhere along the same place he was when he finished All Mights training, the healing quirks keeping his body from the stress of the sudden enhancement and the other quirks from the vestiges.

Izuku began his move as he jumped from building to building getting closer to his target.

His investigation on Shinsou had to be a little more in depth as he had to search for the family that had adopted him at this time and their residence, his approach would be different then he one he gave to Toga, visiting him at school was almost impossible as his school wasn’t just far away but at the other side of town so going from his school to then run to see Toga and then hurry to try and catch Shinsou and go back home at an hour that didn’t make his mother start thinking something was wrong would be an impossible task since he didn’t have a teleporting quirk.

The other reason as to approach him as a vigilante was to try and help him believe in people more than he did before, Shinsou usually thought that everyone was out to get him because of his quirk and that made him become bitter and lonely as he pushed everyone away, both of them meeting in the sports festival was a kind of trigger for both of them, Shinsou saw that his quirk wasn’t a burden and that people did like him and for Izuku it reminded him as to why he fought and remind him of his roots.

Finally Izuku made it to the home of Shinsous adoptive parents, it was a rather luxurious home, nowhere near anything from Todoroki or Yaoyorozu but above a lot of others, he looked through them and saw that they already had a few younger kids but they adopted to make themselves seem like better people to their friends and strengthen their connections.

Izuku jumped off the roof and activated air walk and float allowing him to easily walk in the middle of the air and walk to an open window with a few purple hair sticking out.

“Hello” Izuku said as he finally reached the window surprising Shinsou who jumped back and fell off his bed “Ah! Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you, are you okay?” Izuku asked as Shinsou looked at him with surprise.

“Who… who are you?” Shinsou asked, Izuku was surprised not only by how he looked like but the way he acted, future Shinsou was skinny but this one had no meat on his bones, his hair was even more of a mess than usual, his arms were covered is red and blue bruises and the bags under his eyes looked worse then normal and he seemed a lot more shy than his future self who had a sharp silver tongue.

Izuku’s blood boiled, he was being abused and barely fed by his own family, it seems like the situation is much worse than Izuku had originally thought “Hi, I don’t mean you any harm I'm just your friendly vigilante passing by” Izuku said hoping that he doesn’t come off as a threat.

Shinsou still looked at him with nervousness but his guard seemed to lower even if just a little “And… what are you doing here?” 

“I was just passing by, searching for any bad guys who need a little asskicking, you know, the usual, but then I saw you sitting there all sad and moopy looking at the stars, is something wrong?” Izuku acted in a much more outgoing and goofy manner than he usually would, this was to try and get closer to Shinsou, to look like a kind and warm person who wore their emotions on their sleeve.

“Uh no, nothings wrong, but… what’s a vigilante?” Shinsou asked, seeming less tense, Izuku smiled as he saw that his plan was already working but felt a little bad since he was using the trust Shinsou was putting on him like this but he knew it was for the better so he pushed it aside, he can deal with it later.

“Wow, you don’t know about us, I don’t know if I should be offended or suprised” he chuckled “Well, vigilantes are like heroes, we go around beating bad guys with our quirks but the only difference is that heroes need to do all this annoying paperwork but we just can’t wait…” His voice suddenly took a sadder tone as he continued “the reason we can’t wait depends on who you ask, some have a grudge, some just didn’t want the paperwork others… have lost important people and don’t want others to go through that, but in the end, all we want is to help others'' Izuku turned to Shinsou with a sad expression, the purple haired boy now looked at him with less fear and more awe.

“You know what? I like you kid, I have to go but I’ll come and visit when I can” Izuku was about to leave when Shinsou called out to him.

“Wait! what… what’s your name?” Izuku froze.

A name… He hadn’t thought about that, in his last life he had tried going nameless, he used the name Deku if things went badly but he never gave the idea much thought, even now he didn’t care about it since he wouldn’t be helping people too much as he would be looking for information so he didn’t expect himself to stand out too much, but it was only one person, how much would it hurt?

But it only brought the same problem back, a name, he couldn’t go with Deku again, it was too early and if somehow word of him does get out, it could be traced back to him. A new name would be better, maybe a nickname or something from his past life?

Izuku started going back on memory lane of his past life, the time he spend with his friends, his family, his teachers, all the battles he went through, one would think that being able to think of them and still stand would make someone happy but for him these memories are bittersweet.

Those times haven’t happened and with how much he was messing with the timeline they might never happen again, these were memories that only he held and the people in them would never know, he smiled with them, laughed with them, he grieved their deaths and after all of that, he was the only one who was left, the scraps that fell off the table.

“...Remnant, call me remnant” with that Izuku disappeared into the night.

Chapter Text

Izuku stopped, wiping the seat from his brow and looked at his hard work.

Right now he was in dagobah beach moving the trash like he had done in his last life for his training, it was strange at first finding the beach covered in garbage once more but it at least gave him a good reason to start working out, aside from that it also helped with controlling his quirks.

Since the way you gain muscle is by hurting the fiber of his muscles and letting them heal, it would activate his healing quirks and ruin the process since they don’t help them grow, so he decided to use this chance to train his control over them and that part ended up being more of a challenge than he expected.

He sat down on the sand and took a drink from his water bottle, if he was correct at least two months had passed since he first came back and quite a lot had already changed.

His friendship with Toga was going smoothly, she talked freely about her classes and friends and she seemed more comfortable around him but sometimes her expressions still seemed forced so maybe he should get to that at some point.

Shinsou was going much faster than he had expected, at the beginning, he seemed really shy and nervous to talk to him but now, he was welcomed with an excited smile, Shinsou was always asking for him to tell him any stories he had and he even started to look better when he started to bring him lunch.

But making friends wasn’t his only mission, using his vigilante persona, he started looking for information on his main targets, Shigaraki and Overhaul.

Until now he hasn’t found any information on Shigaraki, so it means that he doesn’t make himself known to the world until they start recruiting to attack the USJ but it was a completely different story for Overhaul.

Rumors about him were almost everywhere, an insane scientist that is planning on a big breakthrough, an ex-yakuza who plans to take revenge on his old boss, a monster that has been recruiting thugs for his army that he plans to use to attack the city, all of them were lies but in them you could find little pieces of the truth and by piecing them together Izuku found out that even though he was already making a name for himself, his experiments for the quirk erasing bullets haven’t started yet so that could mean that Eri was okay, but for how long?

Izuku let out a sigh as he shook his head, Overhaul was for later, right now he needed to focus on the next step of his plan, since now he had a good amount of muscle and could control the healing quirks, it was time to hit his next target.

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Izuku was walking home and before long, he heard them before he saw them.

“Hey Deku!” The familiar voice brought pain to his heart, he let out a sigh, he knew he would have to face him at some point and even if he had already practiced his lines, he knew that they would be hard for them to come out, so he turned around and faced his childhood friend.

Bakugo, like usual, was followed by a few other kids, all of them wearing excited smiles as they looked down at him “What the hell have you been doing these past few weeks? always just disappearing and avoiding us as if we were villains” Bakugo said as he took a step closer to Izuku who only looked down at his feet, his face covered by the shadows his hair made, finally Bakugo grabbed his shoulder as he used his quirk to burn him once more “or do you just think that some pathetic piece of trash like you is better than us?”

It happened in an instant, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, sparks popping in the air, the gasps and finally, the sound of the blonde boy hitting the ground.

Bakugo was in shock, the cold concrete under him, the dwindling warmth on his hand from his quirk and the pain in his jaw from the punch Izuku gave him, he looked at the green haired boy, his sight already going red and ready to strike back but froze on the spot when he saw the expression on Izuku.

Anger.

Anger was an emotion that didn’t come easy to him and he knew that, e had spent his entire life with him, Izuku was a kind boy that always wanted to help others and even when bullied, he never said anything and treated everyone as friends, but right now, that boy was gone.

Bakugo couldn’t recognize the one that stood in front of him, his shoulder burning most likely to give him another scar, tears streaming down his face, a scowl on his face as his eyes seemed to shine a dangerous red, his bruised fist shaking in anger.

“I’m done” Izuku said, his shaky voice sounding tired after just one punch shattering the silence between them “I’m tired of this, of being pushed around by you when I haven’t even done anything to you!” his voice started to rise in tone, more tears falling to his eyes but the fire in them never went out.

“I’m avoiding you? you're right, because I don’t want to get hurt anymore, do you know how hard it is to go back home and hide all of these from my mom!?” Izuku yelled, and guilt, for the first time in a long time, struck Bakugo, he had forgotten about auntie Inko, he had stopped talking to her after he distanced himself away from Izuku and he had not once thought about the stress he was putting on her.

Izuku didn’t stop, even if his throat started to get sore, he couldn’t stop the words that kept pouring out and the anger that kept growing “Better than you!? Who said I thought I was better than you!? Ever since we were kids, I have looked up to you, wanted to be like you, I never dreamed of being better than you, all I ever wanted was just to stand side by side with you!” The anger in his voice started to turn to grief, the emotions Izuku kept hidden from his past life had started to poke its ugly head and the anger, grief and pain from it all just kept coming, swallowing Izuku like waves as they dragged him away from shore.

“So why!? What did I do for you to hate me so much!?” Izuku grabbed his shirt as he looked at the shocked Bakugo who was frozen to the ground “I don’t want to ever see you again Bakugo !” Izuku spit out his name, completely forgetting the nickname he had always used and ignoring the pained look in his eyes as he turned around and ran.

A memory suddenly jumped to the front of his mind, one that he took a hold of to try to keep himself from being dragged by his own emotions.

The boy stood in front of him, tears streaming down his face, a truly rare sight even for him, the cold air making a shiver run down his body as he listened to his breaking voice, his red eyes shaking from the emotions welling up inside him “WHY DID I… BECOME THE REASON FOR ALL MIGHT’S END!?”

Izuku snapped from his anger, all of his energy drained as he finally heard the voices calling out to him “Kid, can you hear us!?” Nana said holding his arms, it would do nothing to stop his movement but for some reason he could feel warmth from where she held him and it was keeping him grounded, he looked around and saw that he was sitting down in an alley, he must have shut down after the intense wave of emotions.

“Ugh… my head feels like it's going to be split in half, what happened?” Izuku said, the vestiges looked at each other in worry except for his father who just stared at him with a serious expression.

“You... don’t remember anything?” second asked, Izuku just shook his head, he remembers confronting Bakugo but everything was blurry, it almost felt like he wasn’t completely there.

“Well… let’s just say that things went a little south but you definitely left an impact on him” fourth said, Izuku just accepted it, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy so this really wasn’t much of a surprise, he slowly stood back up using the wall to stable himself, even if his legs were shaking he forced himself to walk, he was going to take a nap when he got back home.

Hisashi stayed in his spot as he watched his son slowly walk away but he couldn’t stop thinking about what they had seen back there, his younger brother stood next to him looking at him with anger “What the hell was that?” he snarled

What they had seen was indeed not normal, the way his eyes turned red, the dangerous aura around him and the never ending whispers that came from it, those were something that he had hopped he wouldn't see in his son but it seems that with the addition of his brothers quirk, they only became more noisy “some unwanted passengers”

======================================

Night had fallen on the city and Izuku had gotten to work once more, he stretched his arms and his back as he finally moved from the ledge he had been sitting for more than a few hours, Izuku had a way of finding trouble but he figured out that trouble finds him much easier so he wasn’t surprised by the group of thugs that walked in to an alley he was watching, but he didn’t act immediately, these kinds of people could easily let out secrets from the underground since they didn’t know the importance of them so they were a nice fountain of information.

“What do you guys think about the news?” one began as they pulled out a pack of cigars from their pockets.

Another scoffed “Fucking mad, that Stain guy always takes the spotlight when he comes to town and never leaves anything for the rest of us, he even got that stupid title as the hero killer, as if he was the only one to kill heroes” Izuku perked up at hearing the familiar name, he hadn’t thought about Stain in a while.

The third one let out a rough laugh “If he didn’t have his stupid kitchen knives, I bet he woud be a little puppy with a punchable face”, the thugs found this funny and started to laugh at how a dissarmed Stain would be easy prey but he just rolled his eyes, he had seen an unarmed Stain and the sight of his nail covered in blood and skin was not a pretty sight, that man was stubborn until his grave even taking one of Iidas arms with him.

But these were good news, his meeting with Stain was supposed to be much later down the line but if he was able to stop him now not only would he get rid of a problem early but he could save the Iida brothers from their fate at his hands.

Since he could easily track Stain later with whatever articles the news put out, this was more than enough information so he just stood up, stretched out his hand and whispered “Smokescreen” and quickly a cloud of smoke spread from his hand quickly descending on the thugs  as they looked around in a panic.

The red lighting quickly surrounded Izuku as he jumped down landing directly on top of one of the thugs making him crash against the ground hard immediately knocking him out.

The thick smoke kept him hidden from the other two thugs as they screamed for each other and used their quirks trying to find him and this would also be a problem to him but thanks to an infrared vision quirk his father had he could easily spot the remaining two.

Izuku shot forward tackling the one in front of him forcing him to put his own weight on his bad leg. Wait, how did he know that? the thug couldn’t keep his balance and fell to the floor. Izuku didn’t wait and shot out Blackwhip and wrapped it around their legs and threw them against a wall  which was more than enough to knock them out.

The smoke was already disappearing and it allowed the last one to see his unconcious partners and the small red vigilante who was now looking at him, the last thug gulped and from his hands a sharp pair of claws extended from his fingers and he lunged at the vigilante.

Izuku reacted far more quickly, already used to life threatening fights with much dangerous adversaries, he ducked under the first swing and caught the second one giving him an opportunity to kick him in the ribs where a badly healed wound rested causing the man to stumble and lose his breath.

Izuku finished it quickly by giving the man a good kick to the head with his steel toed boot, knocking them out and leaving an ugly bruise.

Izuku took of his mask as he took a deep breath of cold air, the way he saw them through the smoke and the way he knew of their weaknesses, it wasn’t just the infrared quirk he was using, it took him a little but he found the other quirk he had been using, it had a familiar feeling attached to it and the image of the person came to his mind.

It was Ragdolls stolen quirk, Search.

It must have been activated when he needed a quirk to see through the smoke and it combined with infrared allowing him to see their heat signatures and weaknesses, in his timeline, Ragdoll had her quirk stolen after the training camp was attacked, but now, he had it in his possession so he could give it back… no, he wouldn’t give it back, he would stop her from getting hurt in the first place so that she doesn’t lose it in the first place.

“You could just say you want to keep the quirk” His father said, completely bringing him out of the moment he was having and looked back at him with a glare as Nana tried to slap the back of his head only for it to go right through him.

Izuku sighed and looked at the unconscious villains resting on the floor, he had been doing this for a while now and the news had started to pick up on it, saying that bruised and unconscious villains had begun to be found on the streets and that no one knew who had caused this and that even the villains were confused on who attacked them as all of them gave different stories about their assailant, making it impossible to discover their identity.

Izuku wouldn’t say it at loud but he was having a bit of fun playing with the authorities as they tried to track him down, knowing that it all would be for nothing.

He looked again at the bodies and smirked as an idea began to form in his head, in one side, it would be incredibly risky and could get him caught but on the other, he could make early contact with one of his friends and make things even more of a mess for the people trying to find him… Oh who cares, he had a rough day today, he deserves a little bit of mischief.

He began searching one of the bodies, looking through their pockets looking for something “I think their wallets might have fallen over here actually” his father trying to ‘help’ said but Izuku just rolled his eyes as he found their phone.

He used their fingerprint to unlock it and went to put in a number, let’s see if he remembered it…

It began to ring…

…

…

“Who the hell is this and how did you get my number?” Aizawa's harsh voice came from the speakers and it was almost enough to get him to the brink of tears as he remembered the times this teacher had been an important pillar for his growth and survival in the future.

But of course, the bitter memories of darker times were not far behind.

Eraserhead had been made the leader of their little group as he was one of the remaining heroes that were still alive or not turned into nomus, he had done his best to lead all of them through the remains of the city that looked like a wasteland, using his quirk to make fights against nomus easier but at one point, things went south and a surprise attack lead by Dabi on their hideout at the time forced him to rise up and fight back the waves of beasts and the fire quirk user, he went out with a peaceful smile knowing that he had at least protected his students and his two kids.

“Hey Mister Aizawa, how are you tonight?” Izuku said with an excited tone in his voice.

“Don’t dodge my questions, who the hell are you?” Aizawa answered back clearly irritated that someone had managed to figure out what his private number was, but all Izuku could do was laugh.

“Aw come on Eraserhead don’t be such a meanie, you are getting a call from the new mysterious vigilante that has been making the rounds recently, this should be an honor for you really” Izuku teased, making his teacher mad was just a little payback for everything he had to endure under his time at UA, seriously, he almost had a heart attack with the expulsion thing in the first day.

“Right, as if I would believe that some random criminal figured out my number just to talk about themselves” Aizawa said anger clear as day in his tone.

Izuku let out a gasp as he raised a hand over his chest acting as if he was hurt “A criminal!? Mister Aizawa you wound me, I would much rather prefer the title of a dark defender” Izuku said causing his (future?) teacher to groan from the other side of the speakers.

“But don’t worry I’m not just here to talk about myself, I actually wanted to give you some information, you see I just happened to run into this little group of bad guys and well I would like for someone to pick them up” Izuku said and he could feel the glare his teacher was giving to the phone as he told him the street he was in.

“I can’t believe you are so easily giving yourself up to the police, I at least thank you for making my job easier” Izuku laughed at Aizawa’s words.

“Who said I would be giving up, if you want to catch me you are going to have to try harder than that, like I said I just need someone to pick up the trash, so better luck next time Eraserhead” Izuku said before crushing the phone on his hand and letting out a happy sigh, that had worked wonders on his mood.

“Good prank but you better leave before he comes to find you” first said with a small smile, small breaks like these were not so bad after all.

====================================

By the time Izuku had already climbed through his window and jumped at his bed, he was already asleep before his head hit the bed.

But his rest seemed to be cut short as he woke up, not to his ceiling but to a white empty void devoid of life except for himself.

He looked around, no sign of light, people or even sounds could be heard in this place.

He slowly stood up, he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing before going to sleep, was he attacked by a quirk? was he kidnapped? no it couldn’t be, he had changed some of his history but this was too big of a change to be normal.

Maybe a dream? he pinched his arm and felt the pain clear as day, so that took the idea of a dream away.

…maybe…

He closed his eyes and concentrated on his surroundings, the energy around him felt familiar but slightly different at the same time, he was inside of one of his quirks but the question was which one.

The other vestiges are nowhere to be found and the usual black mist that surrounds him is also missing, so that crosses it out of the list but could he go inside the quirks that were inside All For One or was he inside it?

But why was it so empty?

He decided to walk around to see if he could find anyone or really anything, the white void seemed endless as he couldn’t see the end, every step he took seemed heavier than the last, his chest became heavier and heavier making him start gasping for breath with his hand on his knees.

The air barely seemed to get into his lungs, sweat dripped down his face incredibly tired from what could be hours of walking, it was as if something had covered them, he slowly felt as bile began to rise from stomach already retching, trying to get it out so he could breathe again.

He fell to his knees as he began to puke his own guts out, it tasted rancid, nothing akin to food but instead it reminded him of the disgusting smell of rotting corpses and the bitter taste of blood, when he looked at the floor instead of the usual green puke he saw this strange black and red sludge that was… moving?

Almost as if in queue, another batch began to rise from his throat filling his nose with the disgusting smell and tainting his mouth with the taste of blood, he could do nothing as more and more of it began to come out of his mouth almost as if a river of the stuff had formed inside him.

The sludge in front of him began to grow more and more around him as an endless waterfall of sludge kept pouring from his mouth almost causing him to choke a few times.

But what surprised him even more was that the sludge around him started to move even more and in it he could see the deformed faces of people.

Finally the endless stream of sludge had stopped letting him breath for once but his surrounding had already been fully covered by it, the sludge reaching above his knees and somehow taking over the white void tainting it in a deep red.

He slowly stood up, his lungs feeling heavy and his legs shaking, he tried to move only for him to have to force his own legs to move as the sludge seemed to grab at his legs.

Out of nowhere, an ear shattering cry broke the silence of the void and shook Izuku to the core, it wasn’t a simple cry, it was painful, filled with sadness and hatred and it seemed distorted since he could hear thousands of different types of voices in this singular scream.

Young and old, male and female, all of them joined together for this one single scream causing all of Izuku’s senses to tell him to run.

And run he did, even with the sludge trying to claw at his legs, he kept running with all the adrenaline and fear in his body being the only things that kept him moving.

But things only became worse as the sludge began to shake, waves rippled all around him, some were able to hit him but he didn’t seem to be their target and he only noticed why when he turned around.

Behind him, coming at him at an alarming speed was a giant wave of the sludge, faces of anguish, pain and some that seemed to be screaming all clearly visible on it and they all had their attention on him.

Izuku began to run once again, tears falling down his face as he called out for help but his voice was drowned by the screaming, hands began to shoot out of the sludge grabbing his legs making him fall face first to the ground.

He tried to shake the hands of him but every second more and more came out of the sludge and pulled at him and all he could do was watch as the wave towered over him as it came closer to him.

Izuku screamed for help until his voice finally left him and his lungs burned, his eyes burning from all the crying, his hands red from his trying to claw away at the sludge and finally only letting out a pathetic whimper as the wave consumed him and his world dyed in red.

===================================

Izuku woke up with a gasp, covered in cold sweat. He sat up straight and looked around to see his room, the different hero figures and posters on the walls and the cold air of the night coming through his opened window as he looked at the night time sky.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he whimpered as he remembered the screaming in his head, he pulled the covers over him as if they would protect him from danger and hugged his knees as he let out quiet sobs out into his dark room.

Chapter Text

Izuku yawned as he walked to school, eyes half opened and the bags under his eyes more prominent than ever  and his hair an even worse mess than it usually was as he couldn’t get rid of the conversation he and the other vestiges had after his nightmare.

“To the surprise of nobody, it looks like my brother fucked up again” First said while glaring at his older brother who pouted as he glared at the corner where they had told him to sit.

“In my defense, I had a small idea that adding my quirk would do something to our spirits but I didn’t expect that it would work so well” Answered Hisashi sounding like a little kid who got scolded by his parents.

“No this is just great, I already had to deal with all of you so why not add a few thousand more that go feral at the thought of my own father” Izuku said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he looked at the ceiling.

“Well…” Fifth sighed as he sat down in the chair (since he was like a ghost, he just phased through it) in front of his desk “right now, they can’t do anything then just give you a few nightmares and give a push to your own feelings, it's nothing too bad” Izuku just let out a groan at this as he put his arm over his face.

Sure, he had dealt with nightmares longer than any healthy person ever should but the idea of having someone mess with your emotions was not something that he felt comfortable with in the slightest.

“Deku!” Izuku almost jumped out of his skin after hearing Bakugos voice scream at him forcing him to come back to the present.

He turned around to look at the explosive boy who looked at him with anger but after seeing the sorry state he was in that anger seemed to go out for a few second but just as quickly came back if only a little dimmer “You bastard, you think you can just punch me and walk away with your fucking hands intact!?” Bakugo threatened.

Izuku didn’t get angry, really he just wanted a nap and not deal with this version of Bakugo since today was supposed to be about making advances with the other two kids so he just rubbed his eyes and said “Bakugo, could we not do this toda-” “Don’t call me that!” Izuku was taken by surprise by the blonde's scream.

“Why are you calling me that!? What the hell happened to that stupid nickname huh!?” Izuku was really confused, was he referring to ‘Kacchan’? That was what made him so angry?

Izuku just let out a tired sigh, maybe it was because he was so tired but his next words came out much colder than he wanted them to “Kacchan? That nickname? well I’m sorry to inform you but recently I realized that the person that name used to belong to doesn’t exist anymore, I was blind to that fact for a long time, maybe it's time you open your eyes too” Izuku said leaving a stunned Bakugo behind him.

But he didn’t get far as he heard the explosion behind him, his instincts that he had developed from years of fighting kicking in as he ducked, dodging Bakugo who flew over him, his hands sparking and his eyes filled with a mixture of emotions.

“What are you doing!?” Izuku asked as he turned around and took a step back dodging another hit from Bakugo.

“I’m trying to teach you a lesson!” He screamed sending a fist to Izuku who blocked it and moved back again making more distance between them “What are you going to do if this happens to you again huh!?” Bakugo continued between punches “You are a weak, quirkless kid, how the hell do you even plan to defend yourself!?” His punches and explosions continued one after another but Izuku never send one back only ever dodging and blocking his attacks, he knew his fighting style like the back of his hand and even more now since he barely had the base for it so his moves were easy to predict “Do you think that you can beat someone who could destroy a car with a flick of their hand with just your fists!?” Tears began to form in the corner of his eyes as he sent a right hook “You and your shitty dream of being a hero, did you even stop and think how we would feel if you got hurt!?”

Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise but his body reacted first, he leaned away from the right hook and grabbed his arm as he pulled him down as he quickly used his leg to sweep his legs and throw him to the ground.

Both were panting, Izuku only stared at Bakugo who stayed on the ground, his chest going up and down as he took deep breaths, the only reason the blonde kid didn’t stand back up was because of the surprise of him being defeated by the once weak Deku.

“Bakugo, you aren’t as selfish as I thought, hearing you say that you worry about me makes me really happy but you should know better than anyone that I am not giving up on my dream” Izuku wiped the sweat on his forehead and fixed his uniform as he turned around from the stunned boy “I’ll ask you the same question you did to me, when you thought about ‘teaching me a lesson’ did you ever stop and consider my own feelings? I hope you know that no matter what you do, I won’t stop, so one day I’ll show you that I am capable of becoming a hero and you’ll have no other choice but to accept it”

With those words said, Izuku walked away ignoring the surprised looks of the people who had stopped and looked at their fight.

Bakugo stayed on the ground for a few more seconds until he finally slowly stood back up, he could only see Izuku’s fading silhouette but he noticed the hundreds of ways he looked different from the boy he used to know.

He was taller, the same height as him at this point, his eyes seemed harder and if only a little dimmer, he filled his uniform better than before and the way he carried himself was much different, he exudes this dangerous and confident aura around him that one would need to spend years to make.

When did he change so much?

====================================

By the time Izuku arrived at school, things finally slowed down, he was scolded for getting late meanwhile Bakugo who arrived after him wasn't even given a glare.

For the rest of the day, neither of the two made any move at each other, this confused their classmates. Had something happened for Bakugo who always got mad at Izuku for even breathing near him to not even give him a glance? Since no one understood what was going on, they decided to trust their gut and not mess with Izuku so as to not get into the explosive blonde's bad side.

Even if Izuku had a good day in school his mind was still working overtime for his plans, giving him a headache.

His plan to get a better relationship with Bakugo early on has taken a different turn than expected, at the beginning he just wanted to get it done with words but he should've expected that it wouldn't work, he has always been a person who shows his emotions through actions than words, so he would need to make some changes to accommodate to it.

His next problem was what he heard the other night, Stain was in town and that made a perfect chance to take him down before he could cause any damage to his friends but then came the question, was he ready to fight him?

When he first fought Stain he was capable of using five percent in full cowl but now he could only use two percent after using a few strengthening quirks but on the other side, he now held the other quirks inside All For One and One For All but using them in the state he was in could end with horrible results.

“You'll be fiiiiine” said his father who only added to the pain “those healing quirks kept me alive after that blonde oaf bashed my skull in, so that Stain guy can't do anything to you”

“What we are worried about isn't what he can do, it's the possible crippling backlash that the quirks could have on his body” third said “unlike you, none of us had quirks to keep us in top health”

“Rip to you but I’m different” His father said, making first, second and third grunt but only confusing the others. When he noticed this he only shaked his head with a sad expression “I keep forgettin about the 200 year gap…”

Ignoring that strange comment, Izuku continued down his list of problems.

The next problem would be those other two kids, Toga and Shinsou, he had made great progress with Shinsou, getting him to feel comfortable with him so he didn’t hide the bruises he got during the day but the problem was that he wasn’t sure if they were close enough for him to talk about it and if he wanted his case to actually be looked into it he needed solid proof that something was happening and if the victim themselves denied the accusations than it would completely be dismissed.

His relationship with Toga had also reached a good level where she felt comfortable enough where she could take her mask off a little with him, she finally started to complain about her school with him but it was nothing of what they were looking for, mostly it was just stuff about homework or the teachers being too stiff, which took it off the list leaving only the possibility of something outside of it being the cause but that still left more than a few options.

But there was one thing he wanted to change in their next meeting: 

Quirks.

Up until now the only thing they had not talked about was their quirks, he already knew about theirs but they were both things that had affected their lives greatly so he had hoped that they would bring it up since he was still supposed to be quirkless so it would be a little weird, he had shown his interest in them in subtle ways like by telling them on how he wants to be a pro hero and so he studies quirks but he never specifies that he has one.

Following his usual routine, he quickly walked down the street until he arrived at the familiar park he had been visiting. He looked around until he finally spotted Toga sitting in their usual meeting spot, a simple wooden bench that they liked to sit down and chat but today something about her fell off.

Her shoulders were stiff, her legs were bouncing up and down and under her eyes were the beginning of dark circles. This was the first time he had seen her like that, something must be wrong.

“Hey Toga” Izuku said as he walked next to her, she immediately sat up straight and looked at him with a surprised expression which quickly changed to relief with a sigh, he must have surprised her.

“Hi Izuku…” she said back, letting her fatigue show as she slumped in her seat, Izuku sat down next to her with a confused look on his face.

“Is everything okay? you seem… tired” He said trying to not sound mean but his question got a tired laugh out of her.

“Yeah, it's been a rough day but you don’t look that good either” she shot back now with a smile on her face.

This was what their interactions had recently turned into, Izuku being his usual kind self and Toga revealing more of her teasing and fun side to him which he was more familiar with.

“Toga, you know that I really like quirks right?” He slowly started, this was going to be hard to approach.

“Yeah, why?” she answered a little confused.

“Well I was just wondering if you could… tellmeaboutyourquirk!'' Izuku hastily finished his sentence as he gave her the best puppy eyes he could make.

Toga was taking by surprise by his excitement, she knew about how much Izuku loved talking about quirks, he had told her about quirks from so many heroes, some in the top ten, some sidekicks and some she had never heard of and even then when the quirk was something simple and boring, he could go hours talking about it, about the thousands of uses it had and what it still could do, he looked at every quirk with wonder and with a wish to learn.

But what about hers?

Her quirk was not like the others, it was dark, gross , evil .

What if she told Izuku about it, would he think differently of her, would he still want to be friends with someone so unsightly like her, would he still be her friend?

She gulped down her fear and showed a shaky smiled as she looked away from him trying to hide the fear in them “N-no, it isn’t interesting and it's really boring you wouldn’t like it” she tried to convince him to stop but even then she knew how stubborn he was but he was a kind person so maybe he would stop asking when he saw her expression.

And he did, mostly because he knew that her reaction would not be good, but he hadn’t expected the fear and panic in her eyes, that’s when he realized that unlike Shinosou who was bullied by his quirk and grew a bitter anger to those who had more ‘heroic’ quirks, but Toga… 

She was scared of it, she was scared of her own quirk.

Izuku moved a little giving the panicking girl her own space and took a deep breath, he had thought that she wouldn’t easily tell him so he thought of an idea “since I also haven’t told you about mine how about this, I tell you about my quirk and you tell me about yours?” 

This was something that he had been planning from the beginning by not telling them about his supposed lack of quirk and then using it to get them comfortable with him.

A kind of equivalent exchange, quirks are seen as the main thing that makes an individual so a lot of people like to keep them to themselves so by offering this he was making her feel like he was putting the same amount on the table, making her lower her guard.

Toga seemed conflicted for a minute, she still felt scared of telling him but at the same time she was really curious about Izuku's quirk and to learn more about him, he never talked about it and yet he was so interested in them, you would think that he would have already made a libraries worth of books about his own, so while looking at the kind and soft expression in his eyes she nodded.

Izuku smiled and took a deep breath and said “I’m quirkless”

Her eyes widened in surprise at the statement and at how calmly he said it and, almost as if he had already said it countless times, yet in his eyes there was a shadow covering them as he waited for her answer looking as if he had given up hope.

He was quirkless.

He was quirkless.

This single line kept repeating in her head as she realised the weight of it.

He had told her how much he wanted to be a hero, to help others and face villains with a smile, and he was quirkless.

He had such large dreams and so little, almost nonexistent, power yet that didn’t seem to stop him as he kept analysing quirks and looking forward to the future.

Not having a quirk is extremely rare nowadays and there has never been any quirkless heroes as the job has been seen as dangerous and only for those with powerful quirks so for most, seeing someone who had nothing to fight or defend themselves, it was like a joke.

Izuku must have gone through so much with a dream like that in his situation and he decided to trust her by telling her about it, he trusts her enough to tell him and yet she was scared of him judging her.

As Toga took a few seconds to answer, tears began to form at the edges of Izuku's eyes as a bitter smile formed in his face “I- I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that, I made things weird I-I’ll leave-” Izuku quickly stood up and was ready to leave but was stopped by Toga grabbing his arm.

“N-no wait! sorry I was just… processing it” She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she then looked back at Izuku fear now fully present in his eyes and tears ready to fall “I… thank you, it must have been hard to tell me that so… I’ll tell you” Toga said with a new spark of determination in her chest and Izuku smiled brightly.

They both sat down once again, Izuku wiped the tears in his eyes as he listened to the nervous girl “My quirk… it's called transform, it allows me to change my appearance into another person, it's only their looks, I can’t replicate their memories so that’s a big downside” with that simple explanation Izuku's eyes already were shining as if filled with stars and she couldn’t help the small smile that came to her but it quickly fell when the next words came “but for it to work… I need to consume that person's blood”

She didn’t dare look at Izuku as she finally told him the truth, her hands in her lap nervously played with her skirt, her mind filling with the ways he could answer, guilt began to creep from her stomach all the way to her throat as the word of her family rang in her head.

“A normal girl doesn’t like blood and dirty things like this”

“I can’t believe my own daughter is a disgusting monster”

“Big sister is really weird, I don’t want to play with her”

“I won’t accept a monster like you as my daughter”

Weid

Monster

Unwanted

Those were words that had deeply ingrained themselves into her heart since they had come from her own family, the people she must trusted, she tried her best to be what they wanted from her, a normal girl, so she hid everything about her own quirk and her interest in blood all deep down inside of her and yet even now when they looked at her there were small traces of disgust.

Whenever they touched her, they were always fleeting touches as they almost took their hand off her as if she had burned them.

She hated it, she hated that part of herself but everyday, that small, ugly part would keep screaming for attention only growing louder everyday.

Until now she had done her best to ignore it but recently it had been hard, this seemingly endless hunger tormenting her at every hour of the day, today had been a bad day with it being stronger than usual and yet, when she talked about it with Izuku she felt as if a small weight had been taken off her shoulders but at the same time she might have just lost another she cared about.

“Toga that…” she closed her eyes as if it would do anything to soften the pain from the words that she knew were coming “that… is such a cool quirk!” Izuku replied excitedly, completely taking her off guard and making her eyes snap open as she turned to look at him in shock.

“You can do so many cool things with your quirk obviously the main one would be infiltration but there are so many more things, like you could do information gathering while you hide as someone else or maybe you could be a kind of wild card if when you change your appearance your strength also changes oh but what about people with mutation quirks, would you also gain the attributes that the quirk gives its user or would it be erased making you look like a normal pers…” as Izuku continued with his excited rambling Toga paid no attention to it as she was trying to understand the feelings that kept blooming in her chest, those words were ones that she had heard every day but never once had they been directed at her but the moment Izuku said them it was almost as if a missing piece of her puzzle finally found its place, she felt warm and… happy, happier than she had felt in almost her entire life.

Tears began to spill from her eyes, her lips formed into a trembling smile and then broke into a bright smile followed by an attack of giggles that she couldn’t, no, didn’t want to stop.

Izuku stopped his rambling when she lunged at him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug as she buried her head in his neck, tears falling from her face staining his clothes but she didn’t care as she felt almost years worth of fears finally fall of her shoulders, she hung tightly to Izuku, to the one person in her life who had accepted her for who she was.

Izuku froze when Toga jumped on him almost fearing that she had finally snapped but when she wrapped her arms around him and he heard the sobs that came from her, he realized that almost this entire time he had been thinking and sometimes treating her like a dangerous object that could hurt him if he wasn’t cautious when in truth, she is just scared, lonely kid who needed someone to be there for her.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her and traced circles on her back, something he used to do with Eri when she also cried, as she let out more of her tears.

By the time she had finally calmed down enough to talk again she apologized for staining his clothes and thanked him repeatedly before she left for her home looking better than before.

Izuku left with a smile and a warm feeling in his chest, he had forgotten how good it felt to help others.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked down the ledge of the building he was sitting on as he looked at the night sky as he recalled the progress that he had made up until now.

He's had a few fights with Bakugo which really wasn't what he originally wanted but in a way they seemed to be working to open that stubborn kid's eyes.

He had made great progress with Toga, earning her trust but even with just that he still hasn’t been able to stop whatever her trigger to become a villain was, at least now he knows that it's definitely related to her quirk with that, he also had a small theory brewing in his head although it would be hard to prove.

Now, the only other person who he needed to make the next big step…

Izuku jumped down and used float to slow down his descent into the fire escape that was outside of of Shinsous room, he felt a lot less nervous about this talk with him than he felt with Toga since he already knew what was happening and that allowed him to make a much more detailed plan but even when taking in everything into account, another random factor could always enter the equation and ruin it all.

“Hey Remnant” Sinshou warmly greeted him with a smile as he usually did when he came to visit, their relationship had quickly grown as Izuku learned more about his friend than he had in his past life and he helped Shinsou by giving him at least a moment free of the pain and darkness from his home, even if it was with just a small chat he was more than glad he could help.

“Hey kiddo” he answered back with a wave, his hoodie and mask still hid most of his features only his green eyes stood out in the night but even if they met in the street one day he shouldn’t be able to recognize him.

His plan for this stage is just to change both of their lives but not change too much about them so that the timeline doesn’t change too drastically that it goes out of his control but even so he might be able to move forward a few events.

That is what he is hoping to accomplish today.

Their meeting went as usual, simple questions that one would have every day and yet it seemed like such precious moments to him, he couldn’t help but feel sad.

He then looked down at Shinsous arm, at the beginning he would hide with either his covers or long sleeved shirts to hide all the bruise marks he has and the first time he saw them, even if he already knew where they came from, he still asked about it, Shinsou easily lied saying that he had just fallen, Izuku just nodded and moved along.

He asked again and Shinsou said that he had an accident while playing.

He asked again and he just lied.

again.

and again.

and again…

After a while, Izuku decided that if he didn’t use a more aggressive approach he would never get a straight answer because for his plan to work he needs him to be willing to talk.

Because his plan is to get him out of that house.

For a case of abuse to be taken to court of course solid proof is needed but if the victim doesn’t talk or, in worst cases, goes against the claims, the entire thing could be dropped so he needed to convince him to talk or else everything would be for nothing.

When a pause in the conversation finally came Izuku took his chance and asked as he pointed to the new purple bruise in his wrist “How’d you get that?” Shinsou looked at his wrist and just gave him a bitter smile as he put his hand behind him.

“Oh just uh you know, I just bumped a table and-” “Shinsou, stop lying” Shinsou stopped the moment he heard Izuku’s stern tone of voice, a big difference to his usual calm and relaxed one.

“What was it before? You fell down the stairs, you tripped, someone couldn’t control their quirk? Shinsou it's obvious you are lying, what is happening?” Shinsou flinched back when he realized that he was finally caught and he didn’t know what to do.

“Please kid, I’m your friend and I am worried about you, just let me help you” Izuku insisted, he already had half a foot through the door so all he needed to do was push a little more.

“will you… will you really help me?” Shinsou asked, his voice trembling only moments away from breaking, the sting of pain from the thorns of believing in someone only for him to be let down again and again still stuck deep within his heart.

His blood related parents, from the time they realized what he was capable of looked at him like some kind of monster and avoided him like the plague as they finally abandoned him.

The kids at the orphanage, all of them welcomed him with smiling faces but his damn quirk came in and they all looked at him with fear and disgust, he then spend years under their bullying, sometimes he still has nightmares of the muzzle they would sometimes put on him.

His present family, this has been the most recent but also the one that most hurt, they gave him the glimmer of hope of getting him out of that hell and for a while they did, but it all ended up being a lie, a mask they had put as they then used him to make themselves look better, adopting a poor soul and taking care of them as if they were their own flesh and blood, what a lie, those people didn’t even see him as human but as a tool to make themselves seem like a blessed family.

Now, Remnant, a random person that had just stopped by his window and started talking to him, maybe it was the loneliness or the fear of being alone, but he never told them to leave.

Instead, they came back, he knew nothing about them, no name, not their quirk or really anything, yet for some inexplicable reason, he felt calm when they came around, with warm meals that tasted like a warm and lovely home and a soft and welcoming presence, things that had never been in his life and he clung to them like it was a shining silver rope thrown to him as he drowned in a pitch black ocean.

When he looked at the vigilante's green eyes that were filled with worry that was directed at him, for the first time in his life, he couldn’t hold back the tears.

His life story poured out of his mouth as if a dam inside him had broken but through it all, Remnant stayed by his side, holding his hand, letting him breath between sobs letting him talk as he gave him an understanding look.

This… this kind of warmth had been all he had been searching for his entire life.

When he finally finished speaking, his chest burned him and it wasn’t because of his hard breathing or how long he had talked for, but all the emotions that were finally free from the little box he had kept them, his body still shivering from the outburst but as Izuku softly held his shoulders as he almost seemed like he was going to collapse.

“Thanks for trusting in me Shinsou, I promise you, I’m going to get you out of here” He slowly let go of the tired boys shoulders as he took out his phone “sadly, I’m nothing more than just a street rat so I’m going to have to call a friend for help, don’t worry, he’s also a hero, he maybe a bit on the outside but nothing more than just a big softie” With that as he left Shinsou to catch his breath as he walked up the fire escape to the roof.

Once he made it back up Nana’s ghost appeared beside him as she gave him a warm smile “Real proud of you Izuku” the other vestiges also appeared as they repeated her own words, even his father agreed although reluctantly.

Izuku then looked back down at the phone in his hand as he began to dial the number.

-------------------------------

Aizawa looked down at his phone as it started to buzz, it was an unknown number yet he didn’t ignore it like he usually would as he had already gotten used to these late night calls, he hated how they made him seem like a kind of obedient dog but they also made his job easier.

“Alright, where are they Remnant?” Aizawa asked impatiently to the vigilante on the other side of the phono who instead giggled as they had already done this one song and dance multiple times.

“Sorry, mister Aizawa but no villains this time, instead I wanted to ask for a favor” Izuku said as his plan slowly unfolded.

“A favor? Brat you are pushing it too far this time, I won’t do some silly thi-” Aizawa was cut off mid sentence by Izuku’s voice.

“I’ll talk to you and detective Tsukauchi face to face, I’ll even answer some of your questions” Aizawa stopped the anger that had started to rise when he heard the offer the vigilante made him, it was really tempting “I won’t be giving myself freely up to you so that you can put me in a jail cell but it i’ll sure be more information than you have now”

Aizawa couldn’t help but gritted his teeth as he heard the vigilante, he only got angry because he was right, they barely knew that he was a young person because of his voice in their calls, they also knew that he must have a large web of connections since he got his private phone number but that’s all they had, they didn’t know his quirk or possible multiple quirks, hell they didn’t even know what his outfit looked like, whoever Remnant was they were almost like a phantom who had appeared of out of nowhere.

But now, the brat had contacted him just to share his own information all in exchange for a favor, this had great pros and cons as they could immediately fall right into his hands for his little game but right now they had nothing so this was their only lead and it came straight from the source, how could he throw a once i a lifetime chance like this.

Aizawa finally clicked his tongue as he answered “Fine but we set the place and no fighting, just answer our questions and we’ll do your stupid favor” he then let out an annoyed sigh as he told the vigilante the name of a street that was close to the police station but far enough to not seem suspicious.

If things went wrong and that brat set them up for a trap, they could easily call for reinforcements and get out of it.

Aizawa then swung through the city as he arrived at the department where Tsukauchi works and quickly walked to his office where he watched a blande man who looked like a skeleton with a pale face walk out of it but he didn’t pay any attention to it as he pushed the door open.

He was immediately struck by shock and soon after confusion with the scene in front of him.

The entire office was a mess as papers covered in text and different images littered the floor, in the middle of the room a small round table sat with two chairs beside it, one was empty but by the empty cup of coffee in front of it, he could guess that it was not long ago that it had someone sitting in it not long ago, on the other hand, the other chair still had someone he easily recognized as the detective Tsukauchi by his short black hair and he familiar trench suit, beside him was a rather large pile of papers and two cups of what he guessed was coffee mixed with an energy drink.

But what had caught his attention was the large cork board behind him that held multiple images and papers pinned to it, most of them also connected with a long red string.

“Uhh… Tsukauchi, wake up, we’ve got something to do'' Eraserhead called out to the man who had his head laid on the table, possibly unconscious or in the worst case possible, dead but he doubted that last one.

“ughh…” Tsukauchi groaned as he felt the incoming headache from the past hour and a half finally catching up to him after talking about ‘that’ ‘Eraserhead… sorry I didn’t hear you come in, what’s wrong?” Tsukauchi then slowly sat back up straight as he sloppily put his hat back on his head.

“It’s about Remnant, the kid wants to talk to us, even said they’ll answer some of our questions” These words seemed to be some kind of trigger for the detective as they immediately stood up with renewed vigor and quickly pushed Aizawa out the room.

“What are you doing just looking surprised, come on let’s move, where are we meeting them!?” the detective asked as they pulled the underground hero like some kind of kid to their parents.

All of this greatly confused Aizawa.

---------------------------------------------------

Izuku waited for the arrival of Eraser and the detective sitting on the ledge of one of the buildings in the street that they had told him to wait for them.

He soon noticed the approaching police car that was definitely breaking the speed limit and as it stopped and parked, from it came out to figures, a very confused and surprised Eraserhead and a rather energized Tsukauchi who looked like a complete opposite of his usual calm and slow persona.

The detective frantically looked around looking for signs of the vigilante, Izuku decided to do them a favor and show himself “Hey” was all he had to say to gain their attention and for them to look up.

In that moment a few more things about the mysterious vigilante became clearer, their black and red colored outfit which hid most of his main traits well and their voice which made them sure that this really wasn’t a young adult but a child!

“So you are Remnant… a lot younger than I imagined” the detective said as he burned the image of the vigilante into his mind, Izuku just shrugged.

“Well, you said that you would answer our questions so I hope that you will keep your promise, and don’t even think about lying, my quirk allows me to tell when someone is lying” the detective surprisingly started to take the lead in the situation as they pulled out their notebook and a pen.

“First thing, why are you fighting these villains, revenge, a grudge or were you hired by some one?” the detective asked and Izuku almost burst into laughter.

“Oh detective, aren't you overestimating me a little, what reason does someone need to help others?” Izuku instead decided to throw the question back, he already knew how the detective's quirk worked quite well and it had more than a few loopholes to it.

Many, after hearing that he was a living breathing lie detector, would give up the joking and answer directly but that was only a trap he had set for his quirk to work better, the truth is that the truths and lies could easily be swayed.

One loophole was that if one truly believed this to be the truth then the quirk would mark it as truth even if it was a lie, another loophole was that if the person answered back with a question the quirk would not react as they had not answered the question.

Tsukauchi tightened his grip on his pen as his quirk didn’t tell him anything, this kids truly must have one amazing web of information to know even his weaknesses but he decided to move on “How did you manage to gain Eraserheads private phone number?”

Izuku only smiled as he answered “He gave it to me” if they could see the smirk on his face, they would explode in anger.

“Truth!?” Tsukauchi turned to look at Aizawa who looked just as surprised as him.

“I never gave you my phone number, I don’t even know who you are” Aizawa glared at the vigilante who only looked down at them with an amused look in his eyes.

Tsukauchi moved on as his head only racked for a possible answer and instead took on a much colder expression “Do you have multiple quirks?”

This question itself seemed to lower the temperature around them as the mischievous glimmer in the kids' eyes completely disappeared leaving only cold sharp green eyes that stared daggers through them both.

A heavy weight suddenly appeared in both of the adults' chests as they began to wait for the answer.

The silence only lasted a few more seconds until Izuku finally spoke “Yes” was all he said in a cold sharp tone that made a shiver run down their spine involuntarily.

“...truth…” the detective seemed much more affected by the answer than the sudden fear they had both felt, while Aizawa was trying to figure out why he had felt such pressure from a mere child.

“If that is all, then I believe it's my turn” Izuku then used blackwhip to take the notebook and pen from Tsukauchi and began to write the street and house where Shinsou lived “My friend, a kid named Shinsou, is stuck in an abusive household and as much as I would like to get him out of there myself, I don’t have any way to get it into court instead I’ll ask this favor to you, get him out of there and into a better family, that’s all I am asking”

He then gave back the notebook for them to look at the address “just… that?” Aizawa asked rather confusedly, this was a rather simple request and yet they put so much importance into it, it confused him greatly.

“Well, that’s all for our deal, so I’ll see you again later Aizaw-” Izuku was stopped in his tracks when Tsukauchi called out to him.

“One last question, are you connected to AFO?” Tsukauchi asked, his hands trembling as he said the acronym, Aizawa could only look at him in confusion as he didn’t know what the three letters meant yet with his reaction, the detective knew he had hit the mark.

Izuku slowly turned to look at the detective, finally letting out a bit of his contained bloodlust which was more than enough to freeze the detective in place and to cause Aizawa to get into a battle stance instinctively.

Izuku’s eyes were empty and cold, showing no emotion to those adults as if they were nothing more than ants to him and with a monotone and cold voice, he answered “Yes”

In a burst of red electricity, Izuku jumped away, leaving the hero and detective duo in shock and slight fear as they got a slight glimpse of what truly was beneath the mask.

Aizawa couldn’t take his eyes of the disappearing red lighting that stood out in the dark night, meanwhile Tsukauchi had brought out his phone in a panic almost dropping it as he called one of the saved numbers in it, only a few seconds passed before the familiar weak voice of Toshinori cae through the speakers “Tsukauchi, why are you calling me we just talked no to long ago, did something happen becau-”

“Toshi, just listen, please fuck… he… he is still alive” the detective said in a panic as his heart had yet to stop beating from the terrfying encounter, cold sweat runing down his back as all of his theories and fears were confirmed.

Chapter Text

The days quickly flew by and Shinsou saw no signs of Remnant after that night where he finally spilled his heart out, a slight fear wrapped around his heart like a snake, he trusted him, more than anyone else in his life, so he knew that if Remnant lied to him and let him down, it would be a hard hit to his already wavering trust.

The fear only took a deeper hold of him when the nights became empty without him coming by to talk, he had missed a few nights before but never almost an entire week, had he forgotten about him? Had he been lied to once more?

“Is this the place?” A man with an eye-catching and bright blonde hair wearing a black leather jacket asked as he looked to the tired man beside him who was looking at a direction that had been written on a piece of paper.

“Should be, now come on, let’s knock” The man with messy long black hair walked a few steps to the front door of the building and knocked on the wooden door and they waited for an answer.

“Yes, who is i- Present Mic!?” A man with light brown hair and pale skin that was covered in circles of multiple colors opened the door with a calm smile that instantly dropped in surprise when he saw a blonde hero standing in front of him “Wha- What can I do for you?” the man asked, trying to hide his excitement and panic with a shaky smile and hoped that they wouldn’t notice his excessive sweating.

“Hello sir, sorry for intruding but we have come today because we received an anonymous tip of some problems going on in your street and we are asking the people here if they have seen anything, so if you could just give us a bit of your time, it would be very much appreciated” Hizashi said with a warm smile as Aizawa stood behind him who only gave the man a cold stare.

“Y-yes of course, but this little neighborhood of ours is very safe so hearing about problems happening in it are very surprising, oh would you like something to drink, we have water, some juice, I could make you some coffee, please just stay comfy here while I go get my family” the man lead the two heroes into his home as he kept rambling purely out of panic as he then offered them seats in their living room and then quickly left as he rushed up the stairs.

The man quickly went room to room telling his wife and his children about the situation until he reached Shinsous room which he entered with a stern look, all the warmth in his voice completely gone “Brat, right now we have some very important guests so I don’t want you making a ruckus so quickly put something good on and be a good little kid and keep your mouth shut” with that and a slam from the door the man left a sad Shinsou behind.

To him, this kind of treatment wasn’t new, when someone came to their home they always made him act like he was mute to avoid any accidents with his quirk, even if he was good with it, all to make themselves seem like saints.

Shnsou put on a long sleeve shirt, pants and shoes and headed downstairs with the rest of the family who threw glances at him that he just ignored but he couldn’t help his surprise when he saw just who the guests were.

Like any other kid, Shinsou was a fan of heroes and since he had more than plenty of free time he spent most of his time looking up videos, interviews and articles about them, while doing that he had stumbled into something called the underground which really was just the name the authorities gave the place where villains usually stayed in and thus learned about the heroes that kept an eye on it and stayed hidden from the spotlight, those called underground heroes.

And right now, his idol, Eraserhead, was sitting right in front of him looking bored (which was actually just his normal face) so how could he not start to panic.

Finally being side by side of his adoptive family one could easily spot the differences, his messy purple hair compared to their light brown was one of the many differences, their tanned skin was a stark contrast to his pale skin.

Present Mic cleared his throat trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen between the panicking family and the heroes “Well, like I have already informed your husband, we received reports of some problems going on in your neighborhood and we would like to know if you have heard of anything going on these past few days” he repeated to inform the new present family members, this caused the parents and children to look confused as they tried to remember if anything was wrong, all except for Shinsou who only seemed to panic even more as an idea began to surface in his mind.

Could this be related to Remnant?

Obviously he hadn’t just stayed in the dark, after their second meeting Shinsou looked up information in vigilantes and he found different articles talking about them, from people who saw them as heroes and other who called them reckless, but the main thing was that being a one of these ‘illegal heroes’ as one reporter put it, was illegal and could lead to long sentences in jail.

Could that be what was going on? Has someone reported Remnant and that’s why he hasn’t been seen since?

“I-I’m sorry but could you be more specific as to what kind of problems have been reported?” this time the mother asked as her family also nodded since they also wanted to know.

But this time Aizawa, who had yet to speak until now, was the one who answered giving the family a cold stare “Oh, it's nothing to bad, It's about a case of child abuse” these words cause the family to freeze in suprise and then… in fear.

Except for Shinsou who was instead confused, the panic that had taken slight hold of him disappeared slightly but only left the question, why were they looking into a case of child abuse?

For a split second, the words of Remnant rung in his head 

“ I’m going to have to call a friend for help, don’t worry, he’s also a hero ”

Could they be…

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you but we have heard of no such cases here” The father said, the kind smile on his face looking a lot more forced than before and a shadow covering his eyes as he stared at the heroes.

Aizawa let out a tired sigh as he saw the change in their expressions, he didn’t know if he should think of this as a win or not, at the beginning, after hearing the favor Remnant wanted them to do was rather surprising but it wasn’t anything too special but after the terrifying display the kid gave them and the strange fright he gave the detective, he felt that it might have been a trap or something like that but he could easily tell that these were just normal people, really shitty people but normal nonetheless, but he did know the kid so maybe they had some kind of connection.

“I’ll skip all the formalities, Sir, we have already looked into this, the child to your left, Hitoshi Shinsou, was adopted by you a little more than a year ago and in that time not only has your position in your job skyrocketed, you moved houses into a much more expensive neighborhood, but you know what the most surprising thing was?” Aizawa began, showing that the two of them were no fools and that they had done their own homework causing a shiver to run down the two parents backs as their expressions began to show more panic “when we talked to your friends and boss, they all said the same thing, they talked about just how good people you were to take in a quirkless mute child into your house and yet, in the records that we got from his orphanage not once had those two words ever appeared” with these last words Aizawas expression darkened as he glared at the wife and husband.

Then he turned to look at Shinsou who cowered at the suddeden attention “So kid, help clear up this mystery, can you talk?” 

The parents turned to look at him, their faces contorted in anger and panic as they sent him a silent message warning him to not open his mouth and for a second it worked as Shinsou only looked down and shook his head.

Aizawa only rolled his eyes at this display “maybe this will help you” Aizawa said, he hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this but he didn’t want to know what that damn brat would do if they didn’t get the kid out of this place “Remnant sent us”

Just those words alone were enough for him to snap his head back up and look at them in surprise.

He did it.

He fulfilled his promise.

A new flame started within Shinsou that consumed all the fear and restraints his adoptive parents had put on him. The exit out of this hell that he had hoped for years to open was right there in front of him, how could he let that door close again?

The parents were really confused with Aizawas last statement but ignored that when they heard Shinsou talk, louder than he ever had before as the fires of determination that burned in his heart pushed his forward “I’m not mute and I do have a quirk”

The father snapped, the anger in him making his painting his face red as he opened his mouth “You bast-” 

“ Stop ”

Shinsous words seemed to cut the air around him as the fathers eyes suddenly emptied and his body froze, the anger that was in his face disappearing completely.

His wife who had been sitting beside him this whole time and watched as her husband fell under Shinsous control paled in fear.

One of the main reasons as to why they kept his quirk a secret and made him act like he was mute was because, unlike all the other people, they weren’t disgusted by him having a ‘villainous quirk’ , they were scared, they knew exactly what they had done to him and if one day he grew tired of the abuse, he could easily control them all like puppets.

The two heroes were surprised when they saw the display of power from the kid. Aizawa was rather surprised, a quirk like that would make an amazing hero, he wanted to sigh as he thought about how an annoying vigilante had found such good talent.

“Well, I guess that settles that, now then Shinsou, are you willing to come with us and give us a confession on what has been going on here? Without it we won’t be able to do much to help you” Mic said seeming completely unfazed by all that had happened in the last few seconds

Shinsou agreed on the spot, why would he ever say no?

With those things finally settled, the two heroes informed him that until everything was settled he would be living with them, this shocked him so much that he had accidentally dropped his control on his adoptive father but he could care less about them now.

Soon enough, for the first time Shinsou went out of that damned house with a bright smile.

-----------------------------------

Izuku walked once more to the park to talk with Toga after school.

He had stopped visiting Shinsou and instead focused on another matter ashe trusted Aizawa to fulfill his side of the deal, he knew the man very well and even without intimidating him, he knew that he would have helped Shinsou, he had a soft spot for kids which is what lead to him becoming a kind of parent for most of the class.

For now, he wanted to focus on Toga since he now knew more about her and their relationship had grown closer, now that he knew a lot more about her he was a lot more confident in changing her future and checking if his small theory was right but by the time he arrived to the park he was surprised to not see a sign of the girl anywhere.

Usually she was the first one here since her school was much closer so she wouldn’t waste as much time walking here as he would so this was a big surprise to him.

He decided to look around, maybe he had just missed her or maybe…

As the dark idea began to set into his mind, Izuku was overcomed with panic, had he somehow messed things up and instead of helping messed things up and made her snap sooner than in his original timeline but if she had killed a student why would there still be some of those kids in the park, they would have surely heard of the news or had she attacked a random civilian and gone on the run.

More and more of these thoughts ran through his mind as he searched for any sign of the girl in the park and after not finding anything there he changed his target to the streets around it.

In his wild search he had gotten more than a few looks from other passerbys but he couldn’t care less about what they thought as he needed to find his friend.

But when he finally got a sight of the girl, his face paled.

Toga lay shivering on the ground, her body almost out of view as it was hidden by a large trash can, her hands were trembling and her complexion was even paler than usual and she seemed to be muttering something.

Izuku hurried to her side as he got to his knees to help her “Toga what happened are you okay!? Did someone hurt you!?” With a quick look at her he didn’t notice anything wrong with her like bruises or cuts so what had happened?

She was still slightly conscious so he helped her sit up but he was taken aback when she suddenly grabbed his arms, her grip strong enough to turn her knuckles white and even sting a little.

“T-Toga?” Izuku asked, the panic beginning to fade only to leave space for the fear that began to rise up from his stomach.

She then looked at him.

All the hairs in his body stood straight as if he had been struck by lightning.

Memories began to flash before him of all the times he faced against those animalistic eyes.

In that moment, her eyes changed from the fun and shy girl he had come to know and changed to the blood obsessed hunter that he had fought with so many times.

Hey bright yellow eyes shone with a predatorial gleam as they looked at him like she hadn’t eaten anything in years.

His instincts were two slow.

no, it wasn’t his instincts, those had kicked in a while ago, his body was too slow, he couldn’t activate any of the quirks because of the fear of hurting her and her death grip was too much for his still developing body as she pulled him forward and she lunged at him, fangs bared.

She easily pierced his skin.

Izuku let out a grunt as she bit the right side of his neck, a little above his shoulder and he felt a wave of dizziness strike him almost making him fall to the floor only if it wasn’t for her hold on him.

She greedily gulped down his blood almost as if she hadn’t drank anything but she did something that surprised him, her grip on him lightly until she let go of his arms and instead pulled him into a hug and soon his blood wasn’t the only thing staining his clothes as she began to cry.

Some part of her was still in there and she doesn’t seem to be willingly doing this, meaning that this is a kind of instinct, but knowing that she was still there and worried about him made this feel… a little bit less scary.

He weakly hugged her back, one arm wrapping around her and the other stroking her hair as she just continued.

There was nothing but silence between them but even then, she could understand the message he was giving her.

It’s okay.

I’m here.

Hours seemed to pass until she finally let go of his neck and fell asleep on him, Izuku put a hand on his wound as he activated his healing quirks, the bite marks quickly healing until he stopped them, it would be weird if the wound healed so quickly.

He sighed when he looked at the two of them, their clothes were covered in blood and dirt so if they walked back into the street they would catch everyone's attention so the best option would be to be more careful.

Even if this experience had been rather scary it had helped Izuku understand a lot more things.

Usually Toga would turn into the person they drank their blood from but she looked exactly the same as before meaning that she didn’t do it for her quirk but more for her instincts.

“Guess this proves it…” he mumbled as he activated warp, a large pile of black goo formed in front of him as it then formed into a white box, he opened it to reveal his vigilante outfit.

He had hidden the box somewhere in his room where his mother wouldn’t check and with warp he could easily get it anywhere in seconds but now he placed the red hoodie on Toga and he put on his black mask as he gently held her in a bridal carry since it was the most secure one with what he was about to do.

Izuku took a deep breath as his body was covered in red electricity and with a super powered jump reached the top of the building.

“You never told us what your theory was about, you know” fifth said as he appeared next to Izuku.

“I just wasn’t sure but this is more than enough proof” Izuku easily jumped over the building as he headed to his house “We knew that she definitely had something going on like Shinsou did and after she finally told me about it an idea came to me, what if her quirk was more complicated than we thought?”

“More complicated? What do you mean?” Nana asked.

“Well, quirks can affect many things of their user, an obvious example are the mutation quirks, those fully change a how a person look like but to accommodate those changes, their insides must also change, stronger bones, more muscle, simple stuff like that, but they can also change stuff like their tastes, most people with cat related mutations tend to like seafood more than the average, but sometimes they can even change a the body so much that even their need to survive change” Izuku said.

“Hold on” Third said “Are you saying that her little transformation quirk changed what she needed to survive, like for example, breathing air?” he asked

“Yep, a better example would be people with fish mutations, some can easily survive on land but there are some that need to stay underwater to live since they can’t breath air like normal humans” he answered back.

“Okay, I get those, but the girl's quirk isn’t a mutation so it doesn’t make much sense” sixth said, still not seeing the point.

“I think I get it” Second suddenly said “you are saying that her quirk has changed her in a way we didn’t know and I can probably guess what it is” Second said with a sly grin “if we considered her strange obsession with blood, the way she calmed down after drinking your blood and her body, like her sharp canines. All those point to a strong relationship to how vampires were described in old folklore in Eastern Europe, sharp fangs to easily penetrate flesh and drink blood which is what they feed on since normal food usually didn’t give them the nutrients they needed, but vampires have been told to have many  other powers except shape shifting into other people and she hasn’t shown any other power aside from her normal shape shifting even after her quirk went through an evolution, so this leads us to one answer, her quirk is a lot more related to vampires of old then we thought, she may not have the powers but she has the same needs, so if she has been only eating only normal food and not drinking peoples blood, she was unknowingly killing herself until today were she finally succumbed to her instincts and lashed out at you” he finished proudly, but was then confused by the strange looks he got from the other users “What?”

Fourth let out a small laugh “Nothing its just that none of us expected you to know such strange knowledge”

“Says the hermit.” Second scoffed and pointed at first “How come I seem weird when I talk about my own interest but when I first spends hours talking about comics no one says anything?”

“I’m sorry but my little brother is not weird, he is a nerd, there's a difference” Hisashi said as a matter of fact.

“Not helping” First whined.

Second wasn’t wrong, those had been the same thoughts Izuku had (except for the whole vampire thing) he had thought that maybe one of the reasons she could have lashed out was that she had been suppressing her quirk thus hurting herself without even knowing it, it then developed after remembering how much she liked blood and how drinking it seemed to make her extremely happy as if she had eaten her favourite meal.

So the theory changed that maybe, because of her quirk, her body didn’t change her mentality to have an interest in blood but to have a necessity towards it, like a lion knows that it needs to eat meat to survive, her body knew that she needed blood but she only kept ignoring those craving until it finally was too much and she snapped.

But after he interfered and helped her gain trust in someone she could be herself, she must have subconsciously let go of her restraints and it caused it all to collapse on her.

Thankfully the one who found her was him and not another person as things could have gone much worse.

With the sun setting behind him, he finally arrived to the front door of his home, with his arms busy with the girl he used blackwhip to take his mask off and knock on the door.

Blood had started to pour again from his wounds because he didn’t fully heal them and all of the strain his body was put under with one for all and the strengthening quirks he used, so when he saw his mother open the door he felt the exhaustion finally hit him as he let out a tired sigh.

“Izuku, it's really late, where have you been- IZUKU!!” She had been worried as he had been coming back later these past few weeks but he had never come home so late but the worries about him being late disappears the moment she saw him with an open wound in his neck that dyed half of his clothes red and carrying an unconscious girl that was just as covered in blood as he was.

“Hey mom, I made a friend” he said with a weak smile.

Chapter Text

Many things happened in the next few seconds and it took Izuku more than a few minutes to put all the memories in an understandable timeline, most likely because of the bloodloss.

After he finally arrived home and gave his mother the closest thing to a heart attack she’s ever had, she dragged the two bloodied kids inside and set them both on the couch, Toga still sleeping soundly and Izuku barely holding onto consciousness.

She then quickly checked on her child and quickly wrapped the injury on his neck and let him rest since he had gone ghostly pale and placed a blanket over the girl before bombarding him with questions.

He then explained what it was that he had been doing in the afternoon to his mom, how he went to meet Toga and they soon became friends, of course he also explained everything that had happened to the girl too.

Inko let out a tired sigh as she looked at her child, his neck wrapped in bandages, his skin still pale but much better than before and then the girl who was staining her sofa with her own son's blood, after hearing the entire story she had a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

She had always wanted her son to make friends but not like this.

She once again looked at the smile on her son, it was small and fragile but it was obvious that he was truly happy and that only managed to cause her heart to ache.

She had known that Izuku had stopped making friends and that even at some point Bakugo had also left him, how could she not know, Izuku was her son she could easily tell that something was wrong, the way the light in his eyes had dimmed, his smile becoming more forced or the way he dodged her questions.

And yet… she did nothing.

With all those signs staring right at her, she did nothing.

Maybe it was the fear of finally acknowledging the fact that she didn’t know what to do, that this was completely out of her control and she instead decided to live a lie in which everything was fine.

But she knew, oh she knew, the stress of her blissful ignorance put on her son who tried his best to keep the lie up all for her.

And just like those signs, she had also noticed the new ones.

The way one day Izuku came back with a completely different aura around him, the way he carried himself was filled with confidence,finally standing straight and looking ahead, the smile in his face although tired felt so much more honest than before, the glimmer in his eyes that made him seem older than he is.

If he didn’t have his face or his small little things like his muttering, she would have believed that this was a whole different person, all she could do was wonder what had happened to such a drastic change to happen to her small child.

When she looked at this new Izuku she felt proud, she was so happy to see her child turn to a better and happier leaf but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel like she was being left behind, like he was rushing towards a goal of his own and she could only watch his back disappear in the horizon.

Until now she had done nothing to help her son and now he had found a strength to push himself forward, even if it was late, even if it did little, she wanted to push him forward a little.

“Izuku, dear, I think it's better if you go to sleep, I’ll keep an eye on her” she said, he must feel tired from the blood loss and she needed time to think about… a lot of things so wrapping things here for now would be for the better.

Izuku, who was indeed tired, just nodded as he walked to his room. When he finally arrived the other vestiges appeared and he flopped onto his bed letting out a groan as all the exhaustion caught up to him but he couldn’t help the smile that crept up to his face “I did it…”

Shinsou being taken out of his abusive home early, being friends with Toga these were the changes he had been striving for the entire time and after a lot of exhausting work he finally accomplished them, they were small when compared to the rest but they were the base to his plan that he needed.

“I’m quite impressed, you managed to change their lives in what, a little less than a year?” His father was with his usual cheshire smile but this time he didn’t feel angry by it, he was tired and proud of himself, he had already done so much in a short time, if he continued with this pace who knows how far he could get.

“Hey let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here, we aren’t completely done with the Toga problem, don’t you think that her parents might try and file a missing persons report?” said third which were understandable concerns but Izuku had no way to check since he didn’t know where she lived so all they could do was pray and hope that nothing happens.

“Another problem is… where is she going to stay?” Nana asked which brought a hold to the conversation.

Right now, as he sat back up, Izuku realized how little he had thought things through.

He had not thought about a place for her to stay, the problem was at home so it would be dangerous for her to go back, getting her adopted into another family could cause the same thing that happened to Shinsou to happen to her and just abandoning her is out of the picture.

“And what about her need for blood?” Asked second.

OH GOD, WHAT ABOUT HER NEED FOR BLOOD!? He couldn’t just keep feeding her on his own or letting her starve until she snapped again. Can he get blood from the hospital or did he need to steal it???

Since he didn’t have much information to begin with, the plan he had made was shaky at best and now with the factor of family problems and her needing to feed on blood, that plan had begun to crumble.

Suddenly a headache sent him falling back down onto his bed, maybe the blood loss was affecting him pretty badly “You should take a break, those healing quirks heal wounds but they don’t give you back the blood that you spill” Izuku decided to ignore the dark undertones of that and take an actual break for once and let his eyes close.

-----------------------

By the time Izuku woke up, the sun was already shining through the curtains and if it wasn’t for the loose bandages around his neck he would have forgotten about yesterday's incident.

He walked into the kitchen to see his mother and Toga happily talking together with cups of tea in their hands. She must have spent the night here since she is still wearing the blanket around her shoulders.

“Good morning Izuku” His mother was the first one to notice him, Toga followed along with her own quiet greeting but didn’t look at him directly.

“We still need to talk about some things so let’s sit down” His mother said and they all followed as they sat in the living room, Toga still didn’t look at him her expression covered by regret as she looked at her hands in her lap.

“While you were sleeping, Toga gave me her own side of the story and while I am proud of you about helping someone I would have prefered if it wasn’t in such a dangerous way” His mother said and Izuku smiled while he nodded as he hoped that she never found out about his vigilante persona “Now, do you have an idea of what to do next?” She asked but by her tone of voice he could already feel like she knew the answer.

“I… no, I just acted without thinking” he admitted and his mother just nodded.

“Toga, how would you feel staying with us?” She asked with a sweet smile but both Izuku and Toga looked at her shocked.

“M-mom, what do you mean?” Izuku asked, confused by her words.

“Well, after she told me about the problems in her home I started to think about different ways to help her, we can’t send her back that would be horrible, helping her get into an adoptive family could lead into the same situation happening again or something worse happening to her, so I thought that after everything, this would be a good place for her” She turned to look directly at Toga with a soft expression “What do you say dear, do you want to be a Midoriya?”

Both teens stayed silent for a few seconds, Toga was shocked at the offer and was at the brink of tears but Izuku was actually surprised at both her offer but also at how much she had thought the situation.

“Don’t underestimate your own mother son because I can tell you that you didn’t get your brains from me” His father said looking proud as if he was the one that gave the idea.

“Wow, hearing you admit to something is really weird, are you really the brother I know?” asked first but Hisashi just laughed.

“Oh little brother, you should already know my type of woman, I won’t take anyone that can’t reach my high standards” Hisashi said as he looked at his wife with a wistful look.

“...I guess you did always say she was smarter than you…” First muttered but it was more than enough to make both of their faces take a sadder look. Izuku didn’t know why or what that meant since it didn’t feel like that last part was about his mother, maybe he should ask about it later.

“Is it… Is it really okay to have me here?” Toga asked, tears at the edge of falling and her hands shaking as they gripped the edges of the blanket around her.

“Of course, I would need to get a job since the money your father sends us won’t be enough for three people but it shouldn't be too much of a problem and you don’t have to worry about your blood problems, your quirk isn’t the only one that needs you to consume blood, we can easily get you a prescription for it” she said reassuring Toga of her worries but of course there was still something left.

What about Izuku?

Toga opened and closed her mouth multiple times before turning to look at Izuku, tears on the edge of falling as her eyes shone with a whole new bright light.

For some reason, looking at the frail and hopeful Toga that looked at him with wide eyes that looked more like those of a lonely stray kitten, a version of her he had never hoped to see, one that he would have almost thought impossible to even exist, it made the last fragments of the image of his past Toga finally fall apart.

He smiled and warmly said “Welcome to the family”

Toga couldn’t hold back anymore as she finally started to cry at the new life that she was offered. “thank you thank you…” was all she could say as Izuku and Inko both embraced her in the warmest and softest hug she’s ever had in her life.

------------------

Izuku was still going over the events that had happened earlier today.

He had gotten a sibling and it was someone who was supposed to be his enemy.

This was most definitely not in his plan but he couldn’t really say that it was a bad development, this version of Toga had been growing on him for a while and he was more than glad to know that her future is secured to be a good one.

“p-please… stop…” A man who was now laying on a pool of his own blood pleaded, his body which was frozen like a statue couldn’t stop the incoming blade as it pierced their head killing them in the spot.

Izuku clicked his tongue at the sight, he had forgotten just how messy his kills were.

“Are you going to keep watching or do you need something?” the man with the various blade weapons said, his blood red scarf fluttering in the cold night wind, his ugly face turning to look at Izuku who was wearing a different outfit tonight as his usual one was… dirty.

This time, he was wearing a black hoodie making his silhouette mix with the shadows, a dark blue face mask and, even if they were still stained in blood, his weighted gloves, knee pads and his steel toed shoes “You took your time with that one, guess your not as good as they say” Izuku jokingly said as his eyes shone with a slight red hue as he looked down at the infamous hero killer.

Stain.

The man just glared at Izuku “You are a mere child, I suggest that you leave if you know what’s good for you” he simply said.

Izuku tilted his head “Oh, you haven’t heard of me?” he asked.

“As if I should care about a child in costume that will soon get themselves killed” Stain then licked the remaining blood of his sword, ignoring Izuku as he was just another ant in his path to fixing this broken world.

“And here I was hoping we could get a nice little conversation before we began” Izuku said before he turned into a red lightning as he shot down, Stain sensed the incoming attack as quickly dodged back as a downward kick hit right where he had stood making a small crater on the floor.

“hmm… not bad” was all Izuku said as he looked at the villain who now stood with his weapons drawn looking intensely at the young vigilante.

A moment ago, when he looked at the kid he could feel no kind of danger from him so he had chosen to ignore him but after his first strike, that child's entire aura changed as if he was a sword that had been drawn from its scabbard, he could feel that this kid wasn’t normal.

In the alley that both of them stood in, under the watchful eye of the moon, they both knew that only one person was coming out of there alive.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Stain stared at each other in silence as they waited for the other to do the first move.

Stain knew he couldn't underestimate that child, the speed and strength of his attack was not normal at all, it had even cracked the floor underneath him. If it had actually hit him then he would have been badly injured or even worse, he would need to give it his everything for this fight.

Izuku was in his younger body and only with the strengthening quirks could he use about three percent of OFA but now he could not only use the other vestiges quirks but also the ones within AFO and he had decided to wait for a better time to begin testing them out and now…

It seemed like a perfect time to test a few combinations that he had in mind.

In short, he was going to fight not with quality but with quantity.

He was the first one to move as he shot towards the villain in a zigzag pattern using the walls to boost his own jumps.

Stain was no half baked villain, he had already fought and killed multiple heroes so his senses were top notch so when Izuku finally reached him with a fist ready he was able to dodge it with a backflip but the kid then did something that shocked him.

From his knuckles, he send out two long tendrils of black energy that wrapped around his leg and just as he was about to twist it to get out of its grip did they begin to shine with red cracked lines and from the tendrils another bunch of them shot out like thorns that dug into his leg making escape impossible.

Blackwhip and Rivet Stab!

Then with a swing Stain was dragged through the air and smashed to the ground face first but Izuku wasn’t done as he pulled again dragging the villain against the floor and with a boosted jump, flew into the air dragging him along before spinning in the air and throwing him up.

He then chased after him with great speed almost as if he was running on air and then went for another swing at him.

Float and Airwalk!

Seeing the incoming attack, Stain twisted his body making the fist only scratch his cheek, with another great display of flexibility did he contort his body to then use Izuku’s as a propulsion board as he jumped away landing on the roof of another building as he began to run away.

Izuku send out balckwhip and latched onto the building as he chased after the villain, the clouds of smoke they passed by filling his nose with ash and dust, in the distance he could hear the cries of people and the laughs of rampaging villains.

Stain quickly turned around and grimaced as he saw that Izuku followed closely, he then took out three of his knives and threw them at the boy but this proved ineffective as he easily dodged them.

Things like that were easy for him to dodge when compared to Stain’s future self and All For One who were on completely different ranks than this version of the villain so fighting him was nothing more than a chore for him.

Izuku’s legs then suddenly were the main focus of the red lighting as he suddenly released a sudden burst of kinetic energy to fly forward and tackle Stain making them fall back down into the streets.

Fa jin and Springlike Limbs!
Izuku jumped back as Stain tried to swing one of his swords at him but managed to evade it thanks to danger sense, he then quickly use smokescreen to create a moment for him to breath but it didn’t last long as the villain threw more knives at him which Izuku was able to dodge with danger sense or catch with blackwhip.

The villain then rushed at him from the smoke and barely dodged his strike which managed to cut a bit of his suit but thankfully didn’t penetrate his skin.

Izuku followed Stain’s movements thanks to Infrared and Search making the smoke barely a problem for him, then rushed at the villain making him go on the defense but with a kick he managed to break one of his swords and make him take a few steps back.

Stain could barely believe his eyes, this kid was already a threat to him with that strength and speed but adding every other trick that he just kept pulling out he started to think that his chances to win were becoming slimmer and he had yet to even get a single cut on him making his quirk completely useless.

And now that there was a cloud of smoke he had to rely fully on his other senses to try and figure out where the next attack would come from.

Izuku and Stain seemed to reach a stand still as the villain kept on the defensive as he only dodged the attacks from the vigilante, both fighters having reached a middle point as they both tried to land a single strike on the other.

When the smoke finally dispersed, both villain and hero were tired, Izuku had been using danger sense multiple times to dodge all of Stains slashes since he knew that it would be his end if even one of them reached him causing him a pounding headache, Stain had already lost two more of his knives as they were shattered to pieces and even with his own stamina, he could feel how the injuries he had sustained were already taking a toll on him.

They both stared at the other, anger clear on their expressions, Stain couldn’t believe that he had been cornered like a rat so easily, Izuku on the other hand just wanted to finish this off as quickly as possible as memories of Iida and his brother flashed in his mind, he needed to remember that his fight wasn’t just for him.

Izuku rushed forward jumping from wall to wall again around Stain leaving only a trail of red sparks but he didn’t immediately attack as he tried to confuse his enemy.

Stain was barely keeping up with the vigilante as he bounced around him as he waited for a moment to strike, he was trying to purge this world of those corrupt heroes so he wasn’t going to be stopped by a mere child.

A black tendril shot forward aiming at his leg once more but he managed to dodge it with a jump but Izuku appeared behind him in sparks of red and black just realizing that he had been tricked.

Izuku then pulled back his legs as it expanded and cocked back his muscles making the red lighting center around it as he delivered a quick and powerful kick to his back that released an immense shockwave that made the ground around them shake and the windows burst thanks to the explosion of energy that sent the villain flying into the sky with a sickening crack from his back.

This was Izukus most powerful combination as of now...

Fa jin, Kinetic Boosters, Springlike limbs, Hypertrophy, Though Muscles and Air Cannon!
Stain could barely breathe as the kick had expelled all of the air in his lungs and the pain that shot through his body made his mind go blank for a few seconds but when he finally came back and tried to move he discovered something that made his face pale.

He couldn’t feel his legs!

That bastard had done something to his spine and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t make his legs move and he could only glance back at the ground as he crashed against the ground with a loud splat.

Izuku slowly approached the now disfigured body, that’s right even now he was still alive but only barely.

His arms and legs were bent and broken that he could see the bones jutting out of his own skin, a puddle of blood began to slowly grow around him, his ribcage obviously also in bad condition as his skin fell into his body in some parts of his chest as it tried to go up and down only to fail multiple times.

His hair stuck to his head because of the sweat and blood that covered it, one of his lungs must have been pierced as he coughed up blood, his eyes looked at him in a combination of anger and fear at the person who had managed to toy with him like he was nothing.

Izuku’s eyes, now cold and with a dangerous edge shone a ruby red as he looked at the pitiful remains of the greatest killer in front of him and when compared to the mad grin that past his past Stain had before he killed him after taking one of Iidas arms, than this was a very obvious downgrade.

“Can’t feel anything down from your hips, can you?” Izuku asked as he crouched in front of the villain, his voice cold and monotone “That’s poetic justice, I bet that’s how he felt, useless, pathetic, scared , probably even worse as that was his quirk but look at you, the great hero killer, taken by- how did you put it… right, a mere child”

Izuku then took a deep breath ignoring the scent of blood as he mentally scratched a name off his list but when he opened them again he noticed something strange.

Right on Stains chest was a small ball of light, it was flickering in and out of existence as if saying that it didn’t have long before it died.

For some reason, when Izuku saw the small light he felt…

Empty

Empty 

Empty

EmptyEmptyE mpty

EmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmpty

EmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmpty

EmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmptyEmpty

That intense feeling of emptiness completely overcame Izuku and took over his mind as he panicked as the feeling only became more and more ingrained in him.

He didn’t want it.

What was missing!? What was it!?

Izuku could barely breathe as panic began to overtake him as he tried to figure out just what that hole inside of him wanted as it made his sin itch.

And then… it suddenly dawned on him.

That light…

That’s the answer…

And he knew just how to get it.

His hand was then sparked with black electricity as he put it on Stains head almost as if in a trance.

He saw how from his hands came multiple red strings that then wrapped around the small light and…

He pulled.

Stain with the last bit of air he had in him began to let out wails of pain as he felt himself be torn apart and his eyes locked with Izukus, their cold, emotionless red as he looked at him.

The screaming seemed to continue for hours as Izuku kept pulling at the light until finally more red strings wrapped around it until it was in his hands where it melted into him finally filling that hole that had scared him.

The feeling was ecstatic, it was as if a part of him had been missing for years and he had finally found it and he just couldn’t help the stupid laugh that bubbled out of him in relief.

With all of this happening he had never even noticed the silence that reigned in the night, the screaming having ceased making his laugh the only thing filling the air.

Stain was dead.

Izuku had won.

And he had taken his quirk.

His eyes slowly turned back to the soft green they were but at the same time it all began to fall down on him.

He had taken his quirk.

He had taken his quirk!

Before he could fully process it, the sounds of sirens reached his ears, shit, someone must have heard their fight and called the cops, he couldn’t stay, he needed to leave.

Izuku hurried as he began running away, not even giving the scene a glance as his mind tried to process everything only to go blank.

He only realized that he was home when he climbed through the window of his room and he finally fell to the floor on his knees as he felt both the exhaustion and guilt hit him at once.

“Izuk-” First tried to say but was stopped by the mental scream that Izuku released, he couldn’t wake up anyone in his house or his cover would be blown.

“WHY!? WHY DID THAT HAPPEN!? WHAT DID I DO!?” He screamed in his mind.

“I didn't expect that kind of backlash…” Hisashi muttered, catching everyone's attention and when he realized he sighed, his usual smile was gone and replaced with a more serious expression.

“Until now, all you had done was use the quirks within my quirk, not AFO itself but today, you could say that it wanted attention and thus made itself known” He then put a hand under his chin as he continued “One of the backlash of my quirk was that it was ‘greedy’ it always asked me for more but to me, it was almost akin to normal hunger, just a small itch here and there, but when both AFO and OFA combined just like the other quirks, it was strengthened”

“My body was not fit to control quirks of the newer generations but you can and that, combined with the power boost from OFA, only made it want more, what you felt must have been that same backlash I went through only a few times worse, changing it from simple hunger to making you feel as if a piece of you was missing”

Izuku looked at his blood stained hands, they were trembling.

“How… How long will I feel like this? Like an unfinished puzzle?” he asked as he swallowed back the fear.

Hisashi only looked down with a sad expression “Until the moment you take your last breath…”

Izuku was horrified at himself but it wasn’t because he had killed a man.

No, he had done that multiple times already.

What scared him so badly was just how much he had enjoyed it.

The feeling of happiness after taking that light, how relief had washed over him in such a dark moment.

Before any of the other vestiges could say anything he slowly stood up and with trembling legs carefully walked through the house until he reached the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror.

He didn’t know who the person in the reflection was.

It was someone else entirely, someone who looked like him but wasn’t. This person held darker eyes, his previous green eyes were now sunken and had dark lines among the creases and folds.

He ran a hand through his green hair. In the mess of it he could see a few new white hairs, so thin and almost invisible that if you weren’t looking for them you would never find them. After a while, he was no longer looking at his hair but at himself.

Tears rushed down his face, he hated it, he hated it so much that he knew that this was only the beginning as he looked at the person who he had become and at the one he had yet to become.

Chapter Text

The morning he woke up, Izuku grimaced at the morning news as they played on the TV as they all ate breakfast.

“We inform everyone that last night, the infamous Hero killer Stain, identified as Chozome Akaguro, has been found dead after an anonymous tip relating to the villain being involved in a fight with a mysterious figure who police believe to be the mysterious vigilante that has been roaming the streets.” Then they proceeded to show pictures of the last alley in which they finished their battle, the deep crater on the floor, the dry blood and the broken windows.

“Stain… I feel like I have heard that name before” Himiko said as she kept eating, Izuku wasn’t really surprised at this, if he remembered correctly it was the message that Stain should have given in the future that brought forth a bunch of different villains from hiding, she being one of them and they joined the league as they believe him to be part of it but now, since no one saw his speech and both Shigaraki nor Stain should know each other, things might have changed by a great deal.

Izuku didn’t like it but he would need to prepare for anything that might change in the future because changing Shinsous or Himikos future was one thing but killing Stain was another, this is probably one of the biggest changes he has made until now.

“You probably heard of him in the news, he’s famous for having taken down the most heroes but it seems that his record has been cut short” Izuku said, the news made him feel nervous, he had hoped that maybe the police would have thought that maybe of the millions of people who hated the villain would have come to take revenge, he didn’t expect them to pin the crime so quickly on him.

Maybe telling the detective that he was related to AFO was a bad idea… Ugh, no, it was the right thing to do, even if it put a target on Remnants.

Last time, All Might had let his guard down after he thought that he had killed AFO, yeah he still doubted his actual death but now, they were sure that he was alive so that meant that they would prepare better when he made his move.

“Those are rather dark new to begin the day with…” His mother complained but then smiled as she turned to her new daughter “Anyway, Himiko how are you feeling, are you settling in well do you need anything?” His mother asked.

“I’m really good, even though I’ve only been here for a few days it already feels much better than my old home but… Are you sure I’m not causing you any trouble?” She asked once more.

“Oh not at all dear the only problem would be the money but I can easily get a job with my years of experience” His mother answered, right he had forgotten about that, his mother was getting a job something she had never done last time so he was a little curious.

“What job are you going to get?”

“I’ll just take up my old job as a lawyer”

“You were a lawyer?” Izuku and Himiko both asked, making Inko laugh.

“Yes, actually it was in one of my cases where I met you father” She said with a bright smile.

“What?” Izuku asked in surprise.

“Oh no” His father said, the panic obvious in his voice.

“You were put on trial!?” First screamed.

“And you didn’t get the death sentence!?” Nana complained.

“For your knowledge, I wasn’t the one on trial, I was just… trying to get a job to hide my identity…” His father tried to defend himself but as his voice became quieter and quieter it was obvious that he didn’t have many excuses “Alright fine! It was after one of my fights when Shimura was still alive and I didn’t have that big of an evil empire and since I had changed my actual name multiple times I had nowhere to go and needed money”

“Did you… Were you a lawyer? You know jackshit about law! You had an arts degree!” First continued.

“Oh so now the english major is trying to chew me out, why don’t you go read Hamlet or something!” Hisahsi answered back, that’s around the point where Izuku turned out of their argument as the two continued bickering and focused back on his mom.

“I was preparing for a case which I thought could be a challenge as I was going against another lawyer who I had never heard of but when it came down to it I was actually surprised when he didn’t even know some of the most simple things which ended with him losing the arguments and his client deemed guilty” His mother laughed as she recalled the face of defeat and shocked from her husband “But I was even more surprised when he asked me out to eat, there he confessed to me that he actually lied to get the job and that he had no idea what he was doing, it was a really weird encounter but we continued to met up and he would tell me all these different jobs that he would take and one thing lead to another and we ended together, now he has a job overseas but he still sends us money”

Izuku was surprised at this, in his past life he never learned much about his father so hearing this was already new to him.

But he shouldn’t focus on that because since today he didn’t have school they were going to focus on his new sister.

Since only Izuku and his mom have lived in this house they don’t have all the necessities to take in someone else, they need clothes, more food and they will have to move his room to make space for her too.

But first…

“It itches” Himiko complained as Izuku pushed away her hand as she tried to scratch her head as he and his mother applied the dye onto her hair.

They had bought the green haired dye for her yesterday and today was finally the day they got to work on her hair, their mother was the one that did the most in this part as he had never done this before but by the time they were done he was able to instead use all of the skill he got from playing dress up with Eri to make the two buns he had seen her with before.

“Wow Izuku! this is my favourite hairstyle, how did you know?” she asked as she looked at her green hair in the mirror, Izuku only laughed.

The day then seemed to fly by, they went to different clothing stores to find clothes for her, they tested different mattresses to see which one she would like.

During the entire time there was a strange feeling inside Izukus chest, it was something that he had not experienced in a long time, something that he had thought that he could never experience again.

“Izuku!” A familiar voice called out.

“What are you staring into space for you nerd!” A rough yet warm voice said.

“Come on, the others are waiting” A warm hand suddenly grabbed onto his own, her soft pink pads on her finger brushing against his scarred hand, He looked up and saw Ochakos bright smile, behind her was the rest of his class all smiling at him.

They were all walking around the plaza, it was the time before they went to the camp, and the first time he had ever done this with people he could honestly call friends.

“Izuku?” Himiko said, bringing him back to the present, she tilted her head looking at him with a small smile on her face, he apparently had stopped walking when he got stuck in his own old memories.

Old… memories…

Could he even call them memories anymore? Those events might never even happen because of his actions and those memories were from a timeline that might not even exist, in all honesty these memories of times gone are nothing but a curse now.

So maybe…

Izuku wiped away the small tears that had gathered in his eyes and answered her smile with his own “Sorry, I got lost in thought” he walked faster to catch up to them.

Maybe it’s time to make some new ones.

-----------------------------

Izuku let out a sigh.

Today had been a much more exciting day than he had expected. Walking around town with his family, going in and out of stores, it made him feel so… normal, like he wasn’t some time traveller from a terrible future, it was nice.

But now all he wanted was to take a nice long rest as tomorrow he would need to go back to school and actually begin to deal with Bakugo.

He slowly opened the door and stepped inside, his feet causing a wet slap as he stepped on some kind of puddle.

“Huh?”

Only then did he realize that… this wasn’t his room.

In front of him laid an entirely different world. The sky above him pitch black, not a single star could be seen above him but in front of him were many… things.

Bodies.

Corpses.

All covered in blood as their lifeless bodies made up the land, their white and empty eyes staring into nothing but they made him feel as if thousands of little needles were stabbing him.

He turned around to open the door and run but behind him was nothing, the door was gone leaving only the red and black wasteland to expand endlessly in front of him.

“Where… Where am I?” He asked nobody in particular, just a moment ago he had been in his own home so how come he was now in a completely different world?

Wait, didn’t something like this happen before?

A nightmare.

That must be it, he was just having a nightmare again, he’ll wake up any time soon, all of this isn’t real and it- “It doesn’t matter? That’s what you wanted to say right?” A voice said behind Izuku which sent a shiver down his entire body, it wasn’t scary or threatening, it was actually monotone, not showing a single hint of emotion, the reason it filled him with such fear was because…

It was his voice.

He slowly turned around and was shocked to see another him, the older version of him to be more specific.

His messy hair pulled back in a small ponytail, his sharp cold dark green eyes looked at him with no emotions, he was at least two heads taller than him and the green hero suit that was stained in blood only made him look more menacing.

“W-what are you?” Izuku asked, his voice trembling.

“What a stupid question, I’m you” The older Izuku answered but thats when he noticed, it wasn’t exactly his voice, it was thousands of other voices all speaking at the same time.

“Where… where are we?” Izuku asked as he looked down, his feet were inside a small puddle of blood but around them the ground was made of thousands of dead bodies but he didn’t recognize a single one of them.

“This place… It's a place made of your own guilt, these are the bodies of the people you couldn’t save, the ones who lost their lives waiting for a hero to appear and save them only to drown in despair as they realized that no one was coming” Older Izuku explained, the thousand voices inside him making every word he said echo.

A heavy weight began to press on Izuku's chest as he heard the other version speak.

The people he couldn’t save.

The ones he let down.

“But… But no one's dead yet, I got another chance, I can save them! I can- Ugh!” Izuku was cut off by the sudden hand that wrapped around his neck and lifted him into the air, making him choke.

“And you think that exempts you from your own sins, you’re just making excuses and you know that” Older Izuku kept his strong hold on Izuku even as he clawed at his gloved hand, his expression never changing.

“You may have gone back in time but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make the same mistakes again” Older Izuku then began to walk holding Izuku in front of him to look at him straight in the eyes as he continued “You got another chance and yet look at what you’ve accomplished, you helped Shinsou and one of your past enemies congrats, but He is still alive, even as we talk he is controlling and killing people all because you thought that friendship was more important”

“You are wasting precious time, do you think that you can make those people your friends if they are dead?” As he kept walking Izuku noticed that the deeper they went in to the empty land the more corpses he recognized, at first they were just some heroes that he remembered having seen in the news but soon they became the one he remembered that had helped him like hawks or endeavor, their empty eyes only made the weight in his chest become heavier.

“People died and will die because of your faul, so use this chance to win ” That last word was the first one that his other self said with any hint of emotion, and it was anger.

“You can’t afford to lose because so many people died already to pave your way with their corpses and if you lose that would render their sacrifices meaningless” His voice only got louder and louder as his eyes began to take a red color and the grip on his neck tightened.

In the floor under their feet he saw his teacher, Mister Aizawa, Midnight, heroes that had tried to protect him and his class.

“You can’t lose because you are the only one who remembers the tears they shed, the blood they spilled, the hopes they left for you to carry and if you lose, who will make them come true, who will make that brighter future that they died fighting for?”

His friends, Uraraka, Iida, Bakugo, he just stepped over them as if they were nothing more than stepping stones for him.

“So stop being a coward and walk through the blood and scale your way up with their bodies. Your hands are already dyed red with their blood so who cares if they get even more dirty”

Then his family, his mom, All Might, their faces so horribly empty that they made a whimper come from his mouth.

“Bare your teeth, a beast is better than a dead man and a villain is better than a dead hero”

Finally, he stopped leaving Izuku hanging over a massive pit that lead to an endless abyss, Izuku had stopped struggling and could only let the tears roll down his face as pathetic whimpers escaped his throat, he looked at his other self whose face was now contorted with anger, his red eyes looking at him as if he was nothing more than a pathetic insect.

“Whatever you do, whatever you become…” He let go and Izuku plummeted but his voice still reached his ears as if he was right in front of him “ You cannot lose ”

Chapter Text

Izuku only realized the consequences of his actions when he finally went back to school even though he had a pounding headache from last night's nightmare.

The news about Stains death had spread like wildfire since he kept hearing people talk about it all over his school and he wasn’t sure if he liked the responses. Many were really happy to have someone so dangerous out of the picture but the news that a mysterious vigilante was the one that took it out made some doubt the ability of the heroes since they had already been chasing after the villain for a long time.

Another drawback that only Izuku knew about was that soon many other villains would begin to pop up all thanks to Stains inspiration but the good thing is that since this time he didn’t have any connections to the league the villains would be running around like headless chickens instead of gathering around one point.

“Okay, so we got rid of Stain really early, changed the vampire girl's fate and helped your purple haired friend, you’ve still got a little more than a year before you go to UA so that leads me to ask, What’s next?” asked first as Izuku walked through his school.

“Well, one of them would be to try and fix my relationship with Bakugo since that was something we kind of just left unresolved, as much as I would like to try and save Eri, right now, even with the extra quirks, I don’t think I am a challenge for either Overhaul or his thugs so that will have to come later…” Izuku then fell into deep silence as he thought about a small idea that had been growing in the back of his mind “How are we going to get into UA?”

His question made the others raise an eyebrow since the answer was obvious “Well, by doing the entrance exam” Said third but Izuku just shook his head.

“Before I was able to take the exam because All Might gave me One for All but we already decided that taking it again would be a bad idea since we don’t know what could happen to you or me if I had a second copy of it and I think that since I am planning to be friends with Bakugo again and the new family member I feel that the excuse of getting my quirk in the middle of the exam won’t hold up” Izuku then stopped as he continued exploring the idea.

Last time, he and All Might had gone with the excuse of him getting his quirk in the middle of the exam when he blew the zero pointer away but back then Bakugo didn’t pay him attention and it was only him and his mom but now there was going to be a lot more eyes on him and suddenly getting a quirk and one that had nothing to do with his family would call too much attention so maybe…

“So what you are saying is that you want to get your quirk earlier than last time to not call as much attention as you did before, that’s a good start but what are you going to use as your ‘quirk’ and when would be a good time to suddenly reveal it because just waking up and saying ‘I got a quirk!’ doesn’t sound any better” Said Nana and Izuku agreed that she was right, choosing a quirk and time was really important since it could either make the lie more believable or completely break it.

And really only one moment came to his mind…

“What do we have here… You’ll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in, kid…”

He always wanted to get the chance to get back at that sludge villain and that would be the perfect moment to do it now the other question would be his quirk, it needs to be something that fits his story and since his mother could attract weak object which would fall into the category of telekinesis and his father could breath fire than…

Izuku got a bitter smile as he thought of the answer, Todoroki will not be happy…

So now, how does he get that kind of quirk? Is there one in the list or maybe he could try and force an evo-

“Deku!” Bakugo suddenly slammed his hand on his desk, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts.

When did he get to his classroom? How long was he spacing out? Anyway, right now that doesn’t matter because someone finally got enough confidence to move.

“You and I are going to have a little talk, got it?” Bakugo ordered, leaving no place for rejection but Izuku just gave him a cold look, in his red eyes those usual flames of anger were a lot dimmer, a good beginning.

Izuku then stood up and followed Bakugo through the school in silence, the other students looking at him with sneers in their faces as they probably imagined how he was going to get beaten into a crying mess.

Bakugo then led him to the back of the school where he stood glaring at him and Izuku just gave him an uninterested look.

“What the hell happened?” Bakugo asked, which only confused Izuku.

“What are you talking about?” Izuku asked back.

“You know what I’m talking about, you… you changed, so what the hell happened?” Bakugo clarified, he wanted answers and Izuku could guess why, in all truth, Bakugo knew him better than anyone even his own mother and a sudden change in his personality like this would definitely catch his attention.

“Nothing happened Bakugo, I just got tired of being pushed around and decided to take my life in my own hands, that’s all” Izuku simply said but Bakugo didn’t seem to like the answer as he clenched his fists.

“Then you are just idiot” He begins a different kind of anger in his face, not the one he showed when he put him in his place as just a stepping stone for him but instead something more personal “I already said it so who cares, you can’t do anything, you may be smart, but you are weak and quirkless, you’d get killed in seconds” Bakugo kept pushing him against the wall with every remark, usually he would tower above him but now with the growth that Izuku has gone through they now stood on equal ground both staring at each other's eyes.

Bakugos words, while angry they also hid a small sense of worry, he actually cared about his own safety, it was a nice feeling but he sure went the wrong way trying to show it.

“I won’t get killed, I know what I am doing Bakugo” Izuku answered back, the challenge obvious in hi voice.

Bakugo let out a laugh as he glared at the determined and unmoving Izuku “Yeah, you totally know, I can already see it you’ll write about their quirk in your book until they get bored and leave” His hands began to spark giving him a more intimidating presence “Just accept it you idiot, you can’t be a hero”

Izuku had enough “After school, follow me and I’ll prove to you that I can be a hero” He said this time pushing the blonde boy back making him take a step back.

“Fine, I can’t wait to see the face you make when you finally understand” Bakugo said with a grin as he left.

The rest of classes went by normally until the bell finally rang as everyone began to leave, Bakugo gave him a final glance before he left.

Izuku was the last one to leave the empty classroom but before he finally walked out a figure appeared behind him, they looked out the window of their classroom with a wistful expression.

It was the older version of him again, his ruby colored eyes shining as he spoke and even when not looking at him his voice was as loud as ever “Keep wasting time like this and I’ll have to take things into my own hands”

Izuku quickly turned around startled by the voice but when he turned to the window the other version of him was already gone leaving him with that warning bouncing around his ears.

-----------------------

“Why the hell are we here?” Bakugo asked as he looked at the place Izuku had brought him.

It was a beach, just that, nothing special and at this hour there weren’t even that many people, yeah the view was really pretty but that was it.

“It’s takoba beach, as you can see it’s a seaside park but the thing is that the place was abandoned after trash began to pile up and because of that more and more trash just continued to pile up over the years” Izuku explained.

Bakugo just tilted his head, the place looked spotless so how could it have been covered in trash and if they did clean up the trash then he was pretty sure that someone would have talked about it.

Izuku let out a small laugh as he could hear the cogs turn in Bakugos head but he decided to show him instead, so he pulled out his phone and showed him a picture.

“It’s just trash” Bakugo answered and he wasn’t wrong, the image just showed a large pile of trash and a small amount of sand underneath it.

“It’s a photo of the park from a year ago” The news seemed to shock Bakugo as he turned to look at the photo and the clean beach.

“Okay but what does this have to do with you proving to me that you can be a hero?” Bakugo asked, while the change in the beach did surprise him it didn’t really mean anything to him.

“I was the one who cleaned it'' Izuku simply stated but it was more than enough to surprise the blonde boy again.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me!? You fucking cleaned all of that!?” Bakugo pretty much screamed in his ear and he nodded.

“Yep, it was for my training, why do you think I got this growth spurt?” Izuku said with a smirk on his face.

“Fine, but just doing a small service to the community doesn’t give you the right to be a hero” Bakugo countered.

Izuku just nodded as he left his backpack on the floor and began to roll his sleeves up “You’re right, but like I said, it was actually for my training, the way I’m going to prove myself to you is…” Izuku then rushed towards Bakugo and gave him a punch square on the face throwing him to the ground with a proud smile “like that”

“What the fuck you asshole!?” The explosive teen complained as he got up but Izuku had already taken a fighting pose.

“Fight me” Izuku said “Fight me and let me prove to you that I can handle myself, that I can be a hero” Izuku challenged Bakugo who held his cheek where he had punched him.

“Fine you bastard, I’ll show you once and for all where you belong” Bakugo grinned as he also left his backpack on the floor and got ready his palms sparking with anticipation

Bakugo was the first one to move as he shot forward with his explosions beginning with a right hook which Izuku easily dodged.

Izuku has already fought Bakugo thousands of times in his last life and all of those were with a better version so even when fighting in a younger body he could see the faults in his attacks and counter them.

He sent a fist to his stomach pushing the blonde teen back again before he rushed at him and before he reached him jumped in the air and sent a kick to his side.

Bakugo pushed his hands forward and used his explosions to dodge the kick but then used the small time that it took Izuku to get back to a good stand to punch him in the face.

Izuku bitterly smiled as he took a step back, just like he remembered his friend is a natural born hero as he is able to quickly adapt to the situation and take advantage of it.

The two of them continued sending punch after punch, even when fighting quirkless Izuku proved to be a big adversary as he knew Bakugo like the back of his own hand but the same could be said of the blonde boy, both of them quickly thinking on their feet as their fight went on.

A few passersby only sent them a few confused and worried glances but left the two alone, the only people who watched the fight with interest were the vestiges as they silently watched the two kids beat each other to the ground.

Nana winced at the bad burns that appeared on Izuku's body everytime one of the explosions reached him, she wasn’t really happy about the way Izuku had decided to go wit it but she understood that sometimes to get the message to someone with such a dense head you needed to beat it into them a little.

She turned to glance at the other two vestiges that watched with far more interest than all the others.

All for One and his little brother.

They stood side by side looking at the young kids- no that isn’t right- they were looking at themselves, a conversation between two people without words, every punch thrown being an entire sentence filled with emotion, every kick a silent frustrated scream that could reach the deepest parts of them.

First had not told them too much about how his time had been, mostly stuck inside that gray vault he had said but he did tell them that he had gotten into one fight with his brother.

By their expression she could guess that even with that, there were still a lot of things left unsaid. She let out a sigh, she hated that man so much but… she could understand how much losing your family could be so she couldn’t help the wish for them to try and make things up.

Thump!

She turned back to the fight and let out a small chuckle as she looked at the two tired teens covered in bruises laying on the sand.

Izuku had a black eye, parts of his clothes singed and broken, the times that the heat reached his skin it left a few red patches on his skin, his knuckles bruised and bloodied as he looked up at the sky.

Bakugo on the other hand had no burns but his body was black and blue from Izuku's punches and kicks, his nose bleeding and his cheek swollen, his uniform a mess stained in his and the green haired kids blood.

For a while both just laid on the sand looking up at the darkening sky, the sun beginning to set in the horizon and the stars beginning to shine brightly in the night sky.

Bakugo felt a strange sense of deja vu wash over him as he looked up at the sky…

How long ago was that time? When he fell as a kid when he was leading the other kids, he had slipped and fallen in a shallow river, the others just watched and the only person who ran down to try and help him was a small green haired boy with a face full of worry as he stretched out a small hand...

Bakugo slowly stood up letting a few curse words slip from his mouth as his body ached with every slight movement.

Izuku looked at him with not anger, sadness or the cold glare from before but awe and a small smile.

Of course he would be the first one to get up. It was what Izuku thought, Bakugo had always been an amazing guy.

“Up” 

“...huh?”

“I said get up” Bakugo said but his words were not what had confused Izuku but his actions.

Bakugo stood in front of Izuku with his hand outstretched towards him to help him get back up from the ground.

Both of them just stayed staring at each other until Izuku finally broke into a bright smile as he grabbed his hand “Thanks Kacchan!” Izuku said as he got back on his trembling legs.

Bakugo just clicked his tongue as he picked up his backpack from the sand before giving Izuku one final glance, no anger in his eyes.

Izuku smiled as he followed with a smile, a silent message of respect between the two of them as they walked home.

--------------------

“Izuku I can’t believe you just came back like this!” Himiko said as she pressed a bag of ice against his eye but even when being berated he couldn’t help but laugh “If mom saw you like this she would have a heart attack!”

“I’m sorry but really it's nothing too bad” He tried to calm her down but it did the complete opposite as she lightly hit his arm making him flinch in pain “Okay, it hurts a little bit…”

The two continued to talk as Himiko helped with his wounds. Right now, the two of them were alone at home as their mother was out in an interview for her job and he was really glad that she didn’t see him like this because, like his sister said, she would have a heart attack.

Suddenly, Izuku's smile fell, yesterday's nightmare and today's message from his older self coming back to his mind along with the other incidents, the stolen quirks pushing his emotions to the brink, stealing Stains quirk, all of it left a sour taste in his mouth…

“Hey sis, can you promise me something?” he quietly asked but it was more than enough to catch her attention.

“Sure, what is it?” She asked as she looked at him, he smiled as he could see the trust in her eyes, maybe it was selfish of him to ask something so big of someone like her but he couldn’t help the small ball of fear in his chest.

“If… for some reason I become a villain, be sure to kill me alright?” He said with a weak smile.

Himiko was shocked and for good reason, the kindest person she had met, her own brother, had just asked her to kill them, how could she not be shocked?

Why does someone who only wishes to help others be so scared of turning evil, she didn’t get it but, for the person who always wore a smile, made her days brighter and brought a new light to her life, if there is something her brother was scared of, as her family then…

She carefully held Izuku's rough hands in her small soft ones and with a determined expression nodded her head as she silently made a promise in her heart.

She’ll protect him, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Izuku gulped down the bottle of water that he had brought not because he was thirsty but because he was worried about what could happen to his own throat after he began.

He looked towards the ocean as it reflected the stars in the sky, the smallest movement because of the wind and under his boots the clean sand of the beach.

Right now it was the middle of the night and he was standing on takoba beach getting ready for the next phase of his training.

Since his friendships had already begun to grow the next thing to work on was his alibi to get into UA, since he decided that stealing the quirk that he wanted would consume too much time and it was still a traumatizing experience to him he decided for the second best option, which was forcing an awakening on a quirk.

“Are you sure this will work? Awakening a quirk is not so simple as just training with it” His father said and for good reason, quirk awakening is a still strange concept on the world even in the future there was still a very little amount of information known about it, the only thing for sure was that it was an evolution that the users quirk would go through in a stressful situation to keep its user alive.

His plan was a little dangerous but it was also the best he could do right now without putting his life on the line.

Now came the other question, what quirk would he use because he couldn’t just use any quirk for his lie to hold up.

Fire manipulation or famously known as pyrokinesis.

It was the perfect lie, the combination of both his mother and fathers quirks. People may be confused about it coming so late but it was easier to explain a lie about that than trying to explain the sudden appearance of a quirk that didn’t appear in his family tree.

He took a deep breath and he could feel his chest fill with heat, his throat began to shine a bright orange, he felt as if his lungs filled with scorching air similar to that of a desert.

And he let it out into the sky.

From his mouth a large flame of orange and red shot out lighting up the night, the flames only lasted a few seconds as they finally died leaving only the strange feeling of warmth around.

The quirk his father used to hide his identity with his mother.

Fire breathing.

He coughed a little as his throat felt dry and his mouth stuck the taste of ash to his tongue, the drawbacks weren’t bad, just annoying.

He put a hand to his chest as he felt the warmth that it gave off, as if a small ball of heat had appeared in his chest.

After finding it inside AFO, Izuku felt a little confused about why it was there, it wasn’t a powerful quirk like the others and his father could have given it up to one of his nomus, but he didn’t, he kept it, did he… grow attached to it?

Oh no that’s bringing a lot of confusing feelings, he needs to concentrate back on what’s important.

He had the quirk so now he needed to bring the danger into the equation and what better way than the quirk that could make him explode!

He took another deep breath activating both the fire breathing and One for All at three percent making his body tremble slightly, three percent was his maximum output without any help from the other strengthening quirks but it wasn’t enough.

4%

His body began to shake even more and he could feel his muscles begin to clench.

5%

He begins to pant as his body begins to tingle, the green sparks around him making his hair stand up.

6%

He begins to make small licks of fire appear around his mouth as his head is stricken by a headache and his body is hit with a bone deep pain as if his own body could break like glass.

7%

Izuku pushes through the pain ignoring all the warnings his own mind gives him as he takes a deep breath that fills his chest with a sharp pain and lets out another breath of fire this one brighter than the last before falling to his knees panting for air as his body trembled in pain as if he was being pierced in all sides.

It failed, OFA gave the quirk a slight boost but no awakening. He laid down to let his body rest and wiped the sweat around his forehead. He knew that this would take a long time to work so he didn’t feel discouraged but wow did it hurt.

“Okay once more…” 

…

Following the beginning of his new training the days began to blur together for Izuku.

With him slowly fixing his relationship with Bakugo his days became a lot more peaceful and quiet as the other students didn’t dare approach him after one day Bakugo sat down and silently ate lunch with him.

His time at home also became much quieter as his mother now spent more time out because of her work but he spent most of his time helping his sister since they had decided to put her in online classes until she could go to school with him next year. The two of them took the time to bond even more and he had even told her about Bakugo which she had taken a lot… worse than he had expected.

“So let me get this straight, your childhood friend, who you literally treat as if he was your own family but when he found out you were quirkless he started to bully you, and nobody stopped him!?” she said, screaming in anger.

“Y-yeah, but we are beginning to fix things, we are talking things out- kind of- and we’ve made a lot of progres and… and you aren’t listening…” Izuku stopped as he noticed that her sister began to mutter to herself saying some things that confused him like ‘the moment i see him…’ but the image made him laugh a little which caught her attention.

“Sorry, it’s just that seeing you like that made me think that you already look like part of the family” Izuku said, causing her to pout and playfully punch him in the arm before the two began to laugh.

When night came he changed his usual vigilante outings for his training which had yet to show any progress but he was confident that it would work and if it didn’t he still had more than a few back up plans in his sleeves.

The disappearance of Remnant was not unnoticed by the people as cases of random thugs or villains being less and less as the days went by after the Stain incident. This sent many people to theorize that all he had done was just to get Stains attention and take him down, others said that he might have died from the injuries of the fight but no one could reach a satisfying answer.

The most annoyed people by the news were the detective, All Might and Aizawa who after meeting Remnant was then told about All For One and One For All which only gave him a headache but still agreed to help.

Remnant had been their only lead to AFO as they weren’t sure if he could still be alive, all they knew was that someone had a connection to him but the way they acted made no sense to them.

“If they really were evil, why would they go around taking down villains, it doesn’t make sense” Aizawa argued to Toshinori in his skeleton form who now sat in the detective's office who was messing with the various papers on the board and a red string.

“They may be people who tried to oppose him and the kid might be their personal ‘cleaner’ who is just getting rid of the trash” Toshinori said, whenever they talked about this he always took the darker looks and this only caused more problems to the trio because Aizawa just couldn’t agree with him.

Obviously he had dealt with kids who were villains, he never liked those cases even less now that he had a kid who had been a victim of abuse.

“What if he is controlling them? Maybe keeping their family as ransom to make sure they follow orders” Aizawa said, he couldn’t help trying to the defend the kid, his small interaction with them on the phone had left a mark on him, the kid sounded fine, he even joked with him at times and if he knew his personal phone number the entire time than he could have asked for help at any time.

“Aizawa, I know that you want to help the child but if they are related to that man then it is already too late for them, All For One is a manipulative bastard, how do we know that he hasn’t already groomed him into the perfect assassin?” Toshinori argued back, his expression grim.

Aizawa grit his teeth, maybe his own judgement was clouded since it came down to a child but he just couldn’t help but see his own son Shinsou in that kid, someone who didn’t get the help they needed and ended going down a dark path but what made him the most angry was…

“And you call yourself the symbol of peace when you can’t think of anything but getting rid of a child instead of helping them” Was what Aizawa said before storming out of the room.

And in the blink of an eye, the last year of middle school began for Izuku but this time he wasn’t alone like the other times as him and Bakugo had finally gotten to speaking terms even if they were just small talk.

The other reason being his sister joining his class and that sure was a day to remember…

“And now, before we begin, I have to inform you of a new classmate that will be joining the class…” The teacher said with a complex expression on their face as the other students began to whisper amongst themselves making Izuku smile as he already knew the surprise but he kept an eye Bakugo as he wanted to see his reaction the most.

“Please come in and introduce yourself…” The teacher said and the classroom door opened as a girl with green hair and two buns walked into the classroom with a mischievous smile.

“Hello, my name is Midoriya Himiko, it's a pleasure to meet you all, I hope that we can be great friends in the future!” She said with a wide smile that showed her fangs as the whole class looked at her in complete surprise before turning back to look at Izuku who was just smiling.

Bakugo seemed to be the most surprised out of everyone when he heard that his friend who he had known his entire life had a sister of the same age who he had never seen before.

Izuku held back a laugh as he looked at Bakugo who looked at him with confusion and surprise looking for an answer, if he had a stretching quirk he was sure that his jaw would have hit the floor by now.

Himiko just happily walked to her seat in the middle of the classroom.

The teacher sighed as they rubbed their eyes “With that out of the way let’s begin class by opening your books at page…” the students just followed instructions as they tried to process the reveal in their heads.

By the time class ended the first one to move was Bakugo who got up and stormed to her seat “Who the hell are you?” he simply asked as he glared at her.

She calmly looked at him “Spiky hair, red eyes and a bad personality, yep just like he said, you must be Kacchan” She said with a sickeningly sweet smile which just made him more angry.

“Don’t fucking call me that now answer my question fangs” He said, anger clear in his voice.

“Oh fangs huh, Izuku did say that you usually give people nicknames but I at least hoped that they would be good you know” She said with a smile still on her face as her voice dripped with sarcasm.

All the other students couldn’t help but watch in awe at the girl that openly challenged and mocked the most feared student in the school, at this point Izuku felt that things could get out of hand.

“Hey Kacchan let’s all just calm down and I will explain everything he said as he got in between the two trying to stop a fight from happening but even he was surprised by the sudden change in his sister's attitude.

“Well you better and I hope it be a fucking good explanation nerd because you don’t just get a sibling out of nowhere” Bakugo said now glaring at him.

“Hey, don’t call my brother a nerd you bitch” Himiko said, catching the two boys' attention.

“Himiko no!” Izuku said in surprise at hearing his sister curse for the first time.

“Oh you wanna fucking go cat eyes?” Bakugo said with his hands sparking a little.

“Kacchan don’t encourage her!” Izuku reprimanded the other boy.

When he thought he could see the two just about to get into a fight he acted first and grabbed the two of them by the back of their clothes and dragged them outside with ease.

The teacher just sighed as they laid their head against their head already feeling a headache coming in.

------------------

“So... you were recently adopted by the Midoriyas from your abusive family and since it was in the middle of the school year, they kept you in online classes until this new year started to finally sign you in, am I missing anything?” Bakugo asked as he made a quick resume of what the two siblings had told him.

They both shook their heads, in the story they gave him they had decided to skip the more… gruesome details of the story.

“Okay, but I do have one question… Why the fuck did you never think of telling us!?” Bakugo asked, both of their families were close and even if they didn’t talk about it both of their mothers were close friends so he had expected at least his mother to tell him but it seemed like she was also out of the loop.

“Well, Izuku was busy with his training and studying to get the time to tell you and Mom has been really busy with her job so telling your family probably slipped her mind” Himiko explained which was mostly correct because she didn’t know that Izuku didn’t tell him on purpose since he wanted to see his friends reaction.

Oh don’t judge him, if he was going to mess with time he could have a bit of fun with it now and again.

“Wait auntie Inko is working now, what does she even do?” Bakugo asked.

“She’s a lawyer now” Izuku answered to the surprise of his blonde friend.

The three of them continued to talk before Bakugo said…

“You said something about training right?”

Izuku nodded wondering where this was going.

“Tell me where it is and I’ll join you” He said, surprising the two greenettes.

“Wait, you want to join, really?” Izuku asked.

“After seeing first hand how much of a mean left you had I thought that what you are doing can’t be that bad” Bakugo said.

“Wait, if he is joining then I want to join too!” His sister said, looking at him expectantly.

“Well, if the two of you want to join then I won’t say no” Izuku said with a smile happy by the idea of training with them.

Their conversation continued without anything interesting coming up again except for the times when Himiko and Bakugo kept butting heads with each other only confusing Izuku as he tried to stop a fight between them.

On the walk home Izuku couldn’t help but ask “Do you have something against Kacchan?” 

“Whaaat, noooooo, what makes you say that?” she innocently asked, giving him a smile.

He sighed and patted her head making her giggle “It’s just a hunch”

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10%

Izuku was on the floor writing in pain as he gasped for air but couldn’t get anything in.

His muscles locked in place leaving him frozen on the cold sand, his ear ringing only making the headache he had much worse.

The only warmth he felt was the one of the blood that came from his nose, the cold air sending shivers through his body and the sparks around his body felt like he was being struck by lightning over and over again.

His vision, already blurry, began to spin as he could feel his own body shutting down.

Just a little more…

Just… a little…

As if a matchstick had been thrown on him his body suddenly was covered by flames of a deep violet which illuminated the beach making him look like a human torch.

Izuku quickly turned off One for All when he felt the fire burn through his skin as it began to make his own skin fall off exposing his own bones to the cold night sending even more jolts of pain through his body.

The heat was so powerful that the sand around him began to melt and turn to glass in seconds.

Izuku quickly activated all of the healing quirks he had as he kept panting on the ground, his body regenerating the lost flesh back into his body.

He closed his eyes as he just listened to the soft sounds of the ocean as he waited for the sudden rush of adrenaline in his body to disappear.

The heat that once stayed focused in his chest now spread through his entire body as if it flowed through his veins, he opened his eyes and with a little concentration made a small orange flame appear on his fingers.

He had done it, he finally had the quirk the world had refused to give him.

Chapter Text

Izuku absentmindedly stared out the window watching the trees slowly move because of the wind, following the leaves that fell and slowly glided to the floor.

The day had been like any other, a fight between heroes and villains on the way to school, a new hero making a debut, someone with a gigantification quirk if he remembered correctly and then just sitting through class answering whatever questions came at him.

but something caught his attention…

“So I’ll be handing out printouts on your desired life-course but…” The teacher stops with the pile of papers in his hands as he then throws them into the air as he continues “But all of you just want to be heroes, right?”

The students burst into cheers as they all used their quirks but Izuku just sat there quietly as he clenched his fists.

He remembers this.

The day it all began.

“Yes yes, all of your quirks are all wonderful but it's against the rules to use them in school” The teacher tried to calm the students and Izuku looked towards the next person who would speak up.

“Sensei, don’t lump us in with these extras!” Bakugo loudly exclaimed with a grin in his face getting the entire class attention “You can’t compare me and the Midoriyas to these weak-ass extras, we are in a whole other ballgame!” He proudly stated and Himiko nodded with a smile. Izuku was a little surprised at the statement as it was different from the one in the past but that just went to show how much he respected the people he deemed worthy to stand on equal footing with him.

The other students were obviously not happy with his words.

“Oh yeah, you three are shoothing for UA, correct?” The teacher said bringing silence to the room as all the other students shut their mouths in surprise but soon their voices started again with a new tone, much quieter and subdued as to not call their wrath on them.

“But.. Isn’t that the national-level academy? Isn’t the entrance exam super difficult?”

“Yeah and… will they really accept someone like him ?”

“You can’t get in with just good grades…”

Izuku just let out a sigh, they were talking about him. The change from being called ‘Deku’ to ‘the one who should not be named’ as first put it, wasn’t bad but even now they still thought that he had no chance to become a hero.

“What was that about Izuku, you damned extras!?” Bakugo said, his hand igniting giving his face a much dangerous look.

“You got a problem with my brother?” Himiko asked with a smile but a dangerous glint could be seen in her eyes.

The students shuddered as they shook their heads.

After the first day of class, Himiko had quickly gotten both the respect and fear of her classmates since she is one of the only people to talk back to Bakugo who not long ago was thought to be the top dog of the school but not long after he had acknowledge the two twins to be the only people in the school he would come to respect.

The other students had tried to get on their good sides but no one could, all because of one thing, the only thing they have in common.

Izuku.

Bakugo had begun to fix his relationship with Izuku and while they were not at the same level they were back when they were kids, he couldn’t tolerate those who tried to hurt him.

Himiko on the other hand, after hearing what Izuku had to go through she had put all of them in her black list but after seeing how much Izuku kept vouching for Bakugo she reluctantly decided to accept him as a friend.

After that class continued on with no problem, Izuku looked at his desk which was completely clean, no burn marks or writing like last time, no fight, no ridicules, all of these were small but still big signs to him of the changes he had done.

Class finally finished and everyone began to leave, as Izuku began packing his things Himiko came straight to him since both walked home together but there was also Bakugo who was waiting for the two of them, he also walked with them but at one point split off for his own home.

“Are you coming or not, nerd?” Bakugo asked as he crossed his arms “There’s this new restaurant close to my home that I wanted to check before it closes for the day”

“Oh really, what kind of restaurant is it?” Himiko asked, while she didn’t entirely like Bakugo she knew that the two could still have normal conversations.

Izuku continued to pack his notebooks while the other two talked until he stopped before grabbing the last one ‘Hero analisis for the future #13’ written in the front.

He slowly grabbed it as he remembered what was supposed to happen to it and the memory seemingly played in front of his eyes.

He saw his small self panic as a different Bakugo picked the notebook up and burned it with his quirk as he then threw it out the window as if it was a piece of trash, he could only watch as months of hard work were lost in seconds.

Bakugo began walking away laughing at his demise leaving him trembling in a mix of anger, sadness and slight fear.

“If you want to be a hero so badly, why don’t you just take a swan dive off the roof and pray that you get a quirk in your next life”

Words that were covered in venom and sharp as a knife stabbed at his heart as he tried to say something only to be shut by the sound of the explosions in his hand that made his skin shiver.

“Earth to Izuku, you in there?” Himiko's voice snapped him out of his mind as she waved her hand in front of his face, he must have gotten caught inside his head again.

“Are you okay Izuku, you’ve been doing that a lot lately” She asked as he finally put the book in and picked up his bag.

“Yeah, I’m okay I just have a lot on my mind lately” He answered which wasn’t a lie, as this day got closer and closer he couldn’t help but keep reminiscing about his past life as events became more and more familiar but also slightly different.

Bakugo and Himiko looked like they wanted to say something but held back as they all left the school.

They spend their time talking until Bakugo finally splits off their group leaving the two siblings alone.

They continued talking until they reached the tunnel that they always pass to reach home.

Izuku turned to look at the manhole as his sister was walking in front of him and he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and steeled his nerves for what was to come.

The sound of the sludge moving through the holes of the manhole and forming the gross mass that was the villain behind Izuku caught the two greenettes' attention.

“What do we have here… You’ll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in, kid…” His gross stench breath and his breathy voice sent Izuku into action as he pushed Himiko away as the sludge wrapped around him.

The sludge wrapped around Izuku like a snake and blocked any way for him to breathe, the disgusting stench of the sewer it had been not too long ago filled his lungs making him gag.

“Izuku!” Himiko screamed as she began to claw at the sludge only for it to go through her fingers, panic rising in her body as she found her attempts at helping her brother completely useless.

The villain began to laugh at the poor girl's panicked expression “You can’t grab a hold of me, I’m amorphous, so stop being a bother!” The villain raised a tentacle ready to slam it down on her.

Izuku might not have been able to breathe but he knew that he couldn’t continue to play the same script as before.

Heat began to spread through his body, the blood in his veins beginning to boil as small flames appeared on the tip of his fingers.

He stopped clawing at the sludge and instead shot it upwards towards the villains face, most of his body was liquid meaning that any attack against it would be useless but two parts of their body had been kept the same making them a perfect weakpoint.

His hand grabbed one of the villains eyes making him scream in pain and weaken his hold on him but he wasn’t finished.

The small flames began to grow as they converged around his hand before exploding in a scorching wave of red flames causing the villain to let out a screech of pain as he jumped away from the two teens.

Izuku fell to his knees as he coughed trying to take a breath of fresh air, Himiko rushed towards him both worried and surprised at what she had just witnessed.

The villain watched in pain and anger as the eye Izuku had been holding fell to the floor as a pile of ash “You… YOU LITTLE BASTARD, I’LL MAKE YOU REGRET THAT!” The mass of sludge then shot forward, raising multiple tentacles at them.

Izuku clutched his hand, since his body didn’t have any kind of fire resistance, his own flames caused him various different kinds of burns and using it again would only make them worse and at the same time, he knew that this vilain was ready to kill the two of them so if he wanted to survive he would also sent a killing blow at them but he didn’t want to do that right in front of his own sister.

Thankfully, things wouldn’t come down to that as someone else still needed to enter the scene.

“HAVE NO FEAR” The manhole that the sludge had come out of suddenly shot up as a muscular figure climbed out of it, his voice as loud and clear as ever bringing everyone's attention to him, his blonde hair shining as if made of gold and his smile exuded an aura of confidence “FOR I AM HERE!!”

All Might, The number one hero.

Izuku could barely hold back the smile that grew on his face at seeing the man he had considered a father once again standing before him.

The villain stopped his attack out of shock as the hero that he had been running away from finally caught up to him, fear clear as day in his face.

All Might took a quick glance of the situation, his eyes sweeping past the two green haired teens and finally landing on the villain “It appears that you young ones have been able to handle the situation on your own and I apologize for having placed you in such danger but now… I’ll make up for my mistake!” All Might pulled back his fist and both Izuku and the sludge reacted to the movement.

Izuku jumped to get a hold of his sister knowing exactly what came next and the villain, even knowing that it was useless, tried to run away.

“Texas… SMASH!!!”” with immense speed, All Might threw his fist forward and with a great scream from the depths of his heart caused an enormous amount of air pressure to rush forward and sent the villain to splatter all over the tunell.

The siblings were not safe from the attack either, even if they weren’t the intended target, the amount of strength that the single punch contained was enough to send them flying. Izuku held on tight to his sister as his back hit the wall taking most of the hit for the two of them.

He almost wanted to laugh, last time he had gone unconscious from that punch but now he only had a headache, it worked as a good show of how much he had grown… the same thing could not be said about his sister who seemed to be seconds away from puking.

Izuku watched as All Might moved at incredible speeds to pick up the scattered villain into a soda bottle. The speed at which the hero moved surprised Izuku as he had gotten used to the already retired All Might from the future and seeing him back in this part of his life was hard for him to get used to.

After he was done with the villain he changed his attention to the two siblings who were finally getting back from the floor, the male helping the female one to stay on her feet while her face was still green.

“Ah young ones I am glad to see that you are unhurt, again I apologize for getting you wrapped up in my mess, I must be off my game today!!” All Might said as he laughed at his own joke, Izuku just smiled as he tried to ignore the ghostly figure of his father that tried and failed to pull the hair of the hero as Nana also tried to pull them away.

“But thanks to you, I’ve shut him into this bottle!!” The blonde hero proudly showed him the bottle of the sludge villain with its one remaining eye floating inside.

Izuku tried to speak but All Might only continued on, oh right, wasn’t his time up by now? “Now I must deliver this perpetrator to the authorities. Next time we meet, it shall be through a TV screen”

The words made Izuku's happiness disappear as he saw the hero squat, his hand stretched out by instinct to try and grab the hero before he left only to close it and let it fall helplessly to his side as the words that started it all rang in his head as if stuck on replay.

“Even if I don’t have a quirk… Can I become a hero like you!?”

A bitter feeling began to well up in Izuku’s stomach as he helplessly watched his bond with the hero come undone, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

With a single jump All Might had already gone into the sky faster than a rocket, his figure disappearing into the clouds and Izuku could only watch from the ground.

“Bye, never come back!” His father said with a smile to the now gone hero as if he had been the one to scare him away.

Nana drifted into view, a sad and concerned look in her eyes as she could understand how Izuku felt, she had seen Toshinori as her own child and the boy had seen him as his father but now that relationship would never flourish as the one thing that had brought them together, One For All, was taken out of the equation.

“Kiddo, are you okay?” She softly asked the greenette who now looked at the ground with a shadow casted over his eyes.

Izuku looked back at his sister who was finally getting better as her face was less green than before and he could see that the events that had just happened had already begun to dawn on her.

Izuku sighed, a deep sadness in it, he knew that things like this would be hard, that because of his actions and situation the relationships he had would never be the same and that he should prepare himself for those moments but…

“Yeah, I’m fine” He quickly said. It's not the truth, but he doesn’t want them worrying about him more than they already do. They have much more important things to focus on.

She gives him a look that clearly says that she didn’t believe him, but all she did was reach out and take his hand, once again he could feel warmth spread through it and it at least helped keep him together.

Chapter Text

“I just… I can’t believe it, you have a quirk now!!” Himiko excitedly said, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked at Izuku and he only chuckled.

The sun had now begun to disappear in the horizon, painting the sky in a warm orange as the siblings walked home having finally gotten their bearings from the villain attack and meeting All Might.

“I’m more surprised how you are ignoring the fact that you almost puked in front of the number one hero” He said, teasing his sister by reminding her of her sickly green face. As his words began to process in her head panic began to set in in her eyes.

“Oh god you’re right, I almost puked in front of him! What if he tells someone, my entire hero dream will be destroyed, I won’t be able to show my face anywhere!!” His sister began to panic as she blew it all out of proportion which was understandable when you make a fool of yourself in front of a world wide celebrity.

“I’m sure All Might wouldn’t do that” Izuku said trying to calm down her nerves, his words were filled with confidence almost as if he knew that he wouldn’t do that, which he kind of did.

“I hope so… Anyway, your quirk!!” His sister quickly bounced back as she grabbed your hand looking at it as if it was some kind of magical item, the healing quirks had done their jobs as the burns had disappeared before she could notice.

“I can’t believe it finally manifested, we have to tell mom, we have to throw a party!! I can’t wait to rub this on Bakugos stupid smirk! Oh we can begin then see and…” Himiko kept going, seeming much more excited than Izuku at the revelation of his quirk as he shifted his attention to the vestiges.

“Congrats kid, you are officially a fire bender” First said with a smile on his face but it quickly fell as he looked at Izuku's confused face “You don’t… you don’t know what those are… uh I...” First struggled with his words as he tried to describe a very old reference to a show that had been forgotten in this day and age and with that came panic and a horrible realization “Oh god… Is this how it feels to be old?”

Izuku just laughed as he listened to his sister excited ramblings and the vestiges conversations.

-------------------------------------

In his defence, Himiko has said a lot of things and while making a party wasn’t impossible he had not expected her to actually go through with it and even less for his mom to be on board with it.

“Good god kid, why did you make us all wait so long huh?” Asked Mitsuki as she ruffled Izuku's head, aside from making a party, his mother had also decided to invite the Bakugos to celebrate all together.

“You bastard, are you trying to outshine me or something?” Bakugo asked, his language as course as ever but there were a few hints of pride in his voice that Izuku could find and a grin in his face as he lightly punched his arm.

“Oh, is the big explosion murder lord scared that my brother will take the spotlight?” Himiko said, the challenge obvious in her voice.

“It’s King explosion murder lord for you Cheshire and he would need to take the spotlight from my cold dead hands” Bakugo answered with a glare and it almost seems like sparks fly between their determined gazes.

Izuku laughed as he saw the two fight once again as he took a sip from his drink as he enjoyed the nice atmosphere.

Being here with everyone was nice but it also felt… weird, calling a quirk his own and for it to not be One For All made him feel as if he was a different person, not the quirkless Izuku Midoriya but someone else, someone who had a quirk whose life wasn’t plagued with insults and people looking down on him.

It left a strange bitter taste in his mouth.

“Izuku” as his mother called for him he quickly replaced the frown in his face with the best smile he could muster as he went back to celebrating with everyone.

The party went off without a hitch and Izuku was exhausted after they asked him to show off his quirk multiple times. It must still be hard to get over the surprise of the quirkless boy suddenly getting a quirk but he knew that things would soon go back to normal.

But for now Izuku had somewhere he needed to go, he did his best to not wake up his sister who was sleeping on the top bunk of their beds as he opened the window and left without a sound.

He walked through the empty streets until he reached his destination, an empty beach with only the sound of the waves to break the silence.

Izuku looked around the beach, memories flooding his head, the days of him cleaning the beach as All Might cheered him on or the different training regimens that he put him through.

The memories made his throat burn, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes as the cold salty air made his skin tingle.

“I’m sorry…” He muttered, tears slowly beginning to fall onto the sand. The feelings that he had been bottling up had finally begun to spill as his meeting with All Might came back to him.

He didn’t know what to do, fear, sadness, anger, it was all pilling up and he was running out of space to hide it. Those emotions kept rearing their ugly heads and no matter what he did he couldn’t stop the thought that they brought with them.

He fell to his knees as more tears kept falling, his breathing becoming faster as the guilt of his actions caught up to him.

The main face that came to him was Stain, Izuku had killed before, it wasn’t a new thing for him. In his past life he and his class had done everything to protect civilians and reach All For One but now, things were different.

Izuku was back, he wasn’t stuck in some life and death situation, he could do things differently but he ended falling back into those habits and even worse he stole a quirk, the core thing that made someone a person.

Then came the question he had been trying to avoid…

Is he still a hero?

Can he still be a hero?

“Pathetic” A familiar voice made Izuku freeze, he slowly looked up and fear filled his eyes as the red eyes of his older counterpart stared back at him “You really think this will help you, crying your eyes out like some kind of child?” the older Izuku asked, no emotion could be found in their monotone voice but the disgust in his eyes was obvious.

Izuku tried to retort but the words only got stuck in his throat “Look at you, a small little pile of weakness, I told you that you couldn’t keep wasting your time and yet here you are” The old Izuku looked down at the trembling boy as they began to stretch their hand out a menacing red glow coming from it “We already warned you and since you don’t seem to be able to keep going we’ll just-” the older Izuku was stopped as someone grabbed their hand and actually managing to make contact with them.

Their eyes turned hostile as they turned to look at the figure who touched them but instead there stood a humanoid looking ball of golden flames? Light? Izuku could not figure out the correct words to describe the person in front of him but they gave him the same feeling as the other vestiges so maybe…

“All Might?” Izuku softly asked and the golden being turned to him, their eyes softened and even though they didn’t have a mouth Izuku could tell that they were smiling.

His vestige.

With everything going on he had completely forgotten about it.

“You” The other Izuku's eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam as they looked at the man who had stopped them with anger clear in their face “Do you really think you can stop us? You will fall and that boy will go down with you” the red eyed Izuku glared at All Might as they tried to pull their hand away from his hold but were unsuccessful.

All Might turned once more to Izuku who looked at him with surprise, suddenly a voice sounded inside his head “ It’s okay Young Midoriya ” It was his voice, just as warm and soft as he remembered it to be “ You haven’t done anything wrong ”

Those words were more than enough to break Izuku's dam as even more tears began to come from his eyes.

The golden flames that made Toshinoris body began to spread to the older Izuku as they struggled for freedom “This isn’t the end! We will get revenge even if it means tearing all of you from the inside!” The red eyed Izuku screamed before the flames fully consumed them and then disappeared completely.

Before the process was done, Toshinori turned to look at the young green boy and with an invisible smile said “ I am proud of you my boy ” before disappearing alongside the other Izuku.

Izuku only stayed there speechless as the words kept bouncing around his head.

He was proud.

He didn’t hate him.

All the walls that Izuku had put up in the last two years came crashing down at that moment as he openly began to wail to the night. Only him and the moon that watched over him.

After what seemed hours, his crying finally subsided, his throat was sore from screams that he had been letting out but now his chest felt much lighter than before but now there was a question on his mind.

“What Toshinori is doing, right?” Nana surprised him as she appeared beside him looking at the ocean with a smile on her face.

“When that evil version of you materialized we all realized that we needed to do something, we couldn’t get rid of it since it was a kind of vestige like us” First said as he appeared sitting on the sand next to Izuku “So we decided that we should put them in some kind of prison, or ironically, a kind of vault. We all voted on my brother but Toshinori actually offered himself to hold them back and no matter how hard we tried he didn’t back down” FIrst smiled at him “You should be happy, even now he still wants to protect you”

Nana softly chuckled “A reckless, selfless idiot, that’s my Toshi”

“I may hate that blonde idiot but… I owe him one for protecting my child” His father said being uncharacteristically nice, Nana, while annoyed at the insult, couldn't bring herself to be angry.

The four of them stayed in silence for a few more minutes until Izuku shakily stood back up and placed a hand over his chest, a small but comforting warmth where his heart should be bringing a small smile to his face as he walked back home.

-------------------

Izuku was not surprised as he saw that he had been right yet again, after the initial shock of his new quirk everyone quickly got over it and acted as if he always had one.

His classmates tried to talk to him but Himiko and Kacchan still gave them the stink eye so they were too scared to go further than just some small talk. His training sessions with his sister and Kacchan changed to focus more on their quirks since the UA entrance exam was closer than ever; they needed to become better at handling their quirks.

Izuku had a really unfair advantage at having years of experience and had more than enough people that he could ‘borrow’ moves from but that also meant that he had more than enough tips for his friends, like for example with Kacchan he had already pushed him in the right direction for helping him change from just explosions to different types like his stun grenade.

Toga was a different story, her quirk was very straight forward and her ability only allowed her to do more once it awakened but for now Izuku was just excited to finally be able to analyze her quirk.

She had been gaining more and more confidence in herself and her quirk after seeing how much interest Izuku had in it and having a family and friends that didn’t see her as a monster finally began to show changes in how she thought about herself and being excited to see just what she was capable of.

They began with the normal stuff, how long she could last transformed, did blood type affect the time, that kind of tests.

Nothing really interesting popped up, at least until they began the much interesting part. They discovered that if she focused she could transform only a part of her body, they discovered this when she only changed her arm to look like Kacchans and another thing is that the smaller the portion she changes, the longer she can last with it.

If a full cup of blood made a full body transformation last roughly a day, the arm focused one could last a day and a half.

Izuku seculates that if she manages to improve her control in her quirk she could even manage to change even smaller parts of her body while keeping everything else like normal, from just changing her hair to her finger tips, she could make the perfect spy.

Like this the trio spent their days thinking of ways to use their quirks and training for the exam, the three of them were going to make UA the beginning of their legends as the greatest heroes.

Izuku bitterly smiled at the statement as he hoped that he would be there to see them both shine even if it had to be in from the shadows.

Chapter Text

Izuku stared down at the bright golden dates of UA as he, Bakugo and Himiko looked at the next step in becoming heroes, the giant institution towering above them. Izuku remembered how last time he had been here his heart wanted to jump out of his chest and his legs were nothing but jello, yet now his heart was steady and his legs were standing firm on the ground.

Another difference this time is… the security.

Izuku gave a quick glance around and counted at least five different pro heroes standing guard in different parts of the entrance and the one that made him the most nervous was the black haired man standing next to the gate looking at all the students walking in.

Eraserhead.

Why were there so many heroes here and if he is here then it must be serious because if it was just standing guard he definitely wouldn’t have come or at least would have stayed hidden instead of just standing in plain sight.

“Izuku, you’re muttering again” His sister said as she lightly pushed him snapping out of his trance and then began the walk into the school.

Izuku sighed, he would need to look into this but it would need to be some other time but for now… 

He looked down at his feet, his usual favourite red shoes shining under the light.

It was time to meet someone.

Izuku took a step forward and purposely tripped with his own feet, he saw the ground quickly approaching but he kept the calm expression on his face. At the edge of his vision he could see Bakugo and Himiko reach forward to try and catch him, he held back a chuckle as he mentally apologized to them.

Soon, as expected, he stopped falling or, to better describe it, he began to float.

Everyone froze in surprise as Izuku was no longer touching the ground and the new brown haired girl that stood next to them helped him get back on his feet before she brought her hands together and the feeling of weightlessness disappeared.

“Sorry for using my quirk on you but it would have been bad luck if you tripped, right?” the brunette said with a relaxed smile as she continued “I’m so nervous, bet you are too!”
Izuku and the others could only look at each other as the girl kept talking without giving them an actual chance to speak before she began to walk away waving at them “Well, good luck!”

“That was weird” Bakugo was the first one to break the silence as they watched the girl disappear into the crowd of other participants.

Izuku had a small smile on his face but didn’t say anything as they continued to walk into the auditorium, they luckily found seats together and they began chatting as around them the seats began to fill.

Izuku was mostly just looking around at the different participants hoping to see some of his future classmates and he was not disappointed when he saw Iida sitting with his back straight on his seat or the shiny hair of Aoyama somehow sparkling in the middle of a crowd, but the one that almost made him break into a wide smile was the messy head of purple hair that he recognized, it might have already been a few years but there’s no way that he would forget about Shinsou.

Soon everyone's attention was caught by the figure that walked on to the stage “ WELCOME EVERYBODY! CAN I GET A HEY!? ” Present Mic exclaimed as he waited for a response from the deathly silent audience but he just moved on as if it was nothing “ ALRIGHT, EXAMINEES. I’M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON HOW THIS WILL GO DOWN! ARE YOU READY!? ” and once more the audience didn’t answer back his excitement.

Izuku could hear by his side his sister chuckle at the situation but Bakugo was paying full attention as the hero began to explain their situation but he soon noticed her expression fall “We are all in a different area…”

Bakugo clicked his tongue “They don’t intend on letting classmates or friends cooperate with each other, huh?”

Himiko just gave him a sad nod as she had been really excited to do the exam with the three of them together. Izuku didn’t say anything as he absentmindedly listened to the pro hero explain the exam. The information was useless for him since he had already done the exam once.

Suddenly, a young man stood up from his seat before raising the handouts that they had been given “On the instructions, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for…” Izuku smiled fondly as he watched Iida continue his questions.

“ DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT LAST ONE, IT'S WORTH ZERO POINTS SO IT WILL JUST BE A SMALL NUISANCE IN YOUR EXAM! ” Izuku wanted to laugh at the way he described the zero pointer knowing full well that it was a ‘little nuisance’

Finally, the time had come for them to go their separate ways, his sister gave him a quick good luck hug and Bakugo... “I swear that if you somehow fail this I will kill you and then kill you again, got it nerd?” Well, he told him to do his best in his own way.

In front of the city replica, Izuku played around with a small ball of fire that he rolled around his hand, it burned slightly but he didn’t mind it as his skin healed instantly at the small damage. He looked around and caught glimpses of his future classmates, sadly, Shinsou didn’t seem to be in his area so he couldn’t see how he was.

He hoped his sister would do good, her quirk isn’t really well suited for battle against machines but he knew that she was smart and really tricky, she would find a way, Bakugo was of no concern seeing how he did last time.

Having done his little mind list, he decided to close his eyes and take a deep breath as he waited for the signa- 

“ AAAAND START!!! ”

As soon as Mic shouthed the words Izuku’s eyes shot open with new determination and under him a spark ignited as he focused his flames under him to shoot him forward through the open gates into the fake city.

“ WHAT'S THE MATTER!? THERE'S NO COUNTDOWNS IN BATTLE, SEE THAT GUY GETS IT, NOW GET TO IT!!! ” Mic said, finally snapping everyone from their shock and causing them all to rush forward.

Izuku smirked as he remembered how he had been like them before but now, as he shot forward a wave of fire completely engulfing three two pointers, he was different.

The exam continued like last time except that this time he was finally getting some villain points, sometimes danger sense would activate and warn him of someone in danger which he would go and help and it helped since he could gain some rescue points and boost his score even higher.

--------------------

In a dark room lit up by only the screen that flickered through the different participants of the test, the different pro heroes murmured to each other.

“That blonde kid with the explosion quirk is strong but he’s been insulting everyone he meets, what a bad personality…”

“Man, that green haired girl is really quick on her feet, her quirk sucks for this test but she has actually taken down a lot of robots and is even using their parts as weapons!”

The heroes continued but one tired black haired man stared at one screen in particular which showed a young boy with purple hair run around with a long metal pipe which he used to fight against the robots and he couldn't help the small proud smile that came to his face.

Shinsou had grown a lot in the last few years after Remnant got him out of his home and somehow before he knew it, he had already signed the adoption papers.

It took him a while to actually get used to their home as the scars of the old one were still present but he has done leaps and bounds towards recovery although he still got a bit of anxiety when left alone but the cats they owned helped with it. Another thing that changed was his own body, because they barely fed him before he had been shorter and skinnier than most kids but after some good meals and exercise he had actually gotten a surprising growth spurt.

Since he was a teacher at UA he had offered him a chance to enter by recommendation but he had turned him down since he said that he wanted to get in by his own merit.

But his mood soured as he thought about the last thing they had talked about before he entered the exam.

“Do you think… Remnant will try to get into UA?” Shinsou said, almost making Aizawa spill his coffee.

“...What?” He carefully said so that his son wouldn’t notice his obvious hesitation.

“Well it's just that, don’t take my word for it, but I think that maybe we have the same age so… if I’m finally entering highschool they might also be entering too” he said with a shrug “They did good work as a vigilante and they could finally do it legally with a license, but it's just a thought…” Shinsou finished sadly.

Aizawa was tightly gripping his mug as he considered the thought his son offered as he also tried to decide between telling him what he knew about the missing vigilante.

One thing that had stayed consistent over the years was that Remnant was his son's biggest inspiration, probably even bigger than him and Mic. But his son thought of the vigilante as someone who tried to do good while he knew that they could be related to the most dangerous villain to ever exist.

Aizawa, now plagued by the thought of someone who could be a traitor decided to inform Nezu about this which got a reaction out of the small animal, they ordered to increase security for the exam and school and since he was the only one who had seen the vigilante he would be in charge of looking into students to see if anything strange appeared.

Luckily, nothing had yet to happen and his list of possible suspects was still empty so maybe the vigilante had either gone somewhere else or somehow died and was now laying in a ditch somewhere.

"Hey, did Endeavor have another kid?" The sudden question caught everyone's attention because of its sheer stupidity and total possibility.

Everyone turned to look at one screen that showed a kid with messy green curls as they shot into the sky by using their fire under their feet as propulsion and then sent a barrage of fireballs at a duo of three pointers that exploded to pieces and the kid gracefully landed as they dashed forward for another target.

Everyone was shocked as that did not seem like the movements of a young teen, they were too calculated almost as if they had been practiced for years.

Nezu moved forward on their seat with a smile on their face that sent a shiver through everyone present in the room "we have quite the interesting batch of kids this year, but of course…" a red button suddenly light up in front of the white rat showing the manic twinkle in their eye "this is where they show their true value"

-------------------

Izuku waved his hand extinguishing the small flames that remained on it, he had taken out a good amount of robots so he was confident that he would get in and if it still reached short, the rescue points would come in handy.

Suddenly, the entire city began to tremble making everyone stop in their tracks and look around in confusion and surprise, just as sudden, the buildings began to fall as from the ground a massive figure began to rise, it's dark green metal body stood taller than any of the buildings and the eye in the middle of its face shone a bright red as it turned on.

Everyone looked in shock and fear at the zero pointer that had begun to slowly move, it's massive body toppling down the buildings around it.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

"Isn't that too much, even for UA!?"

"It's not worth anything, just run!"

Izuku calmly stood in place as students ran past him in the opposite direction of the giant robot, he even caught a glimpse of Iida following the crowd.

Izuku suddenly flinched at the headache that danger sense gave him. He had been using the quirk a lot throughout the exam so it was starting to take a toll on him, as a new warning entered his mind.

"Yeah yeah, I know…" he muttered to himself as he looked towards the brown haired girl that had gotten stuck under a pile of rubble.

Izuku let out a sigh as ge mentally prepared himself for how badly this was going to hurt. He shot forward towards the zero pointer ignoring the looks that the other participants gave him but he didn't care as he focused on boosting his fire quirk with OFA, he had yet to perfect the move but he couldn't hesitate even for a moment.

He just hoped that Endeavor would get angry about him stealing one of his moves.

Around his arms flames began to form and soon shined a bright blue but he just clenched his teeth at the pain and focused all of the energy to the tip of his fingers, the flames followed his will as the flames snaked down his arm to his fingers where they formed small balls of fire.

He stopped in front of the mechanical beast as Uraraka looked at him with surprise and concern but he just smiled at her before turning back at the robot with a cocky grin "Sorry big guy but you messed with the wrong guy"

He pointed his fingers at the zero pointer and in the blink of an eye ten different beams of fire had already sliced all the way through the machine only for him to then pull the beams almost as if they were strings tied to his fingers making them slice the beast as if it was nothing more than paper.

The beams disappeared just as fast as they had come but the results were plain to see as the zero pointer crumbled to countless pieces. Everyone who watched the scene could only stare in pure awe as what had seemed unbeatable had been turned into a pile of scraps in seconds.

Izuku fell to his knees as he clutched his badly burned hands, the skin already dark and in some parts falling off but he just took deep breaths as he put all of OFA into his healing quirks and he watched as his own skin regenerated and the burned one fell off and crumbled on the ground.

Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider

His hands felt a little numb but that didn't matter as he quickly moved to push the rubble off of the girl who just looked at him with wide eyes, finally after freeing her leg he offered her a hand "Hi, are you okay, can you stand?"

It seems that was enough to get her back as she shook her head "N-no, I think I sprained my ankle…" Izuku carefully helped her stand by letting her put her weight on him.

-----------------

The dark room had gone into chaos as the heroes all loudly talked about the impressive scene that had just developed in front of them.

"That kid was insane! Everyone was running away but he just dashed towards it with no fear!"

"And he did it all just to save that girl, now that's what you call a heroe"

"Are we not going to talk about the power he just showed? He must be incredibly talented to pull that off"

A skinny blonde man in an eye-catching suit looked at the young green haired boy that was helping the brunette stand as Recovery Girl approached them.

That small boy had shown not only an incredible power but his amazing control over it but most importantly he showed the great importance of rushing into battle to selflessly save a life.

The skinny man smiled as his blue eyes twinkled with excitement as he thought that he might have found another possible successor.

On the other hand, Aizawa glared at the image of the green kid on the screen, it was all too strange for him. He grabbed the file of the boy and began to skim through it.

Izuku Midoriya

So they don't have any connection to Endeavor, that's good to know but it wasn't important.

Quirk: Fire bending

Strange name but it worked, it was short and straight to the point, but again, nothing weird. Until he noticed the date it stated when his quirk manifested.

10 months ago.

10 months ago.

Warnings began to ring all through his head, how was it possible for a child to suddenly get a quirk at the age of 14 and in ten months master it to the level of the literal number two hero?

It just didn't make sense. Once more he looked at the boy through the cameras with a frown and suspicion in his eyes.

His list has already gotten a name.

Chapter Text

“You okay Izuku?” Himiko asked, snapping Izuku out of his own head.

Both of them were currently standing in front of the Heights Alliance dorms that UA had made for them and their new classmates and he had spent the entire time staring at the closed doors with fear in his heart.

“Yeah, just a little nervous” He answered back as he shifted his backpack and finally pushed the doors open. The sight of the familiar kitchen where he spent time with Eri making sweets, the common area where he and his classmates would spent nights watching movies together, all the memories made his throat tighten.

“Oh hey, are you the last students in our class?”

Ah there it was, the other of his concerns.

“Hi! Yeah, my name is Himiko Midoriya and this is my brother Izuku Midoriya!” Himiko quickly introduced them both to their new classmate and he smiled at hearing her introduce herself like his sister and patted the top of her head lightly which she just answered back with a giggle, but as he turned to look at their classmate his smile turned a little more forced.

In front of him stood someone who shouldn’t be here, a girl with teal eyes and long orange hair that she had tied into a high ponytail on the left side of her hair.

Itsuka Kendo, in his past timeline she was the class representative for class 1-B, but now was one of his classmates taking the place of one of his closest friends, Uraraka Ochako.

Look, he didn’t hate her at all, in his past life he thought of her to be a really kind girl and, yes he also understood that he was to blame for her being here but the thought of not being able to see one of his best friends made a lot of bitter feeling well up in his stomach.

“It’s nice to meet the two of you, my name is Itsuka Kendo” She said with a warm smile as she stretched out her hand, Himiko eagerly shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go find my room” Izuku excused himself from the conversation except that something caught his eye.

In the common room there they all sat, his old classmates.

But he couldn’t help but think that it all felt… wrong.

Momo talked in a regal manner with a kind but slightly forced smile, her posture stiff.

Todoroki sat as far away from everyone as he could and looked out the window, ignoring the conversation entirely.

Shinsou sat next to a very excited Mina who kept bombarding him with questions.

It was nice, their first meeting…

but..

Why did it make his skin crawl?

He rushed up the stairs looking for the room that the school had assigned to him and when he found it he quickly opened the door and slammed it behind him as he fell to the floor.

His breathing had turned ragged as panic rose and took hold of his heart going so fast that it even worried him that it would just stop.

It was wrong.

wrong.

wrong.

WRONG.

…

...

No.

... no

everything is fine

The shadows crawled closer to him, their invisible hands beckoning him closer.

everything is off

The empty walls seemed to come closer to him, trapping him inside a cold box and taking away any air he could fit in his lungs 

everything is supposed to be fine

everything is unrecognisable

The voices of his classmates came through the door distorted and warped beyond recognition, he couldn't recognize the voices of those he should trust, of those he should love.

everyt hin g is different

everything is completely fine

ever ything is g one

The trust, the love, the warmth he had once felt replaced by this terrible sense of wrongness all around him.

e verythi ng is broken

everything is distant

He feels out of place. This is his room, he remembers walking around it, putting posters and other memorabilia around it. He can recall the smile he had as he gazed at the finished room.

everything is wrong

everything is overwhelming

He doesn’t belong. He wants to. More than anything he wants to sing I’m home with all his heart. He wants his friends to greet him with their smiles and warm embrace. He wants it to fold into normalcy. Izuku can’t remember what normal felt like here.

everything is fine

“Midoriya!”

Pain.

Sharp pain.

That was all he could feel for a few seconds and it felt real. Real enough for him to hold on to and ground himself.

He took a deep breath of air, at some point he must have stopped, his face felt warm as if someone had…

It took a few seconds but his sight came back into focus and he saw the past user around him, all looking worried but the one kneeling in front of him was his father who was looking at his own ghostly hand with confusion but soon disregarded that and looked at him with genuine worry.

“Son, are you okay? What happened?” He asked but Izuku couldn’t answer, no matter how hard he tried the words kept getting stuck in his throat so he went to his second option.

With trembling hands he slowly made different signs.

Sign language was something that he had always had a bit of interest for but he was forced to learn it when the war broke out so that he and his classmates could pass messages between each other in silence.

“Sign language, does anyone know it?” his father asked the other vestiges, most of them shook their heads except for En who walked forward.

“I know, I used to do this too when I was young” En kneeled next to his father to get a good look at his hands.

Scared. Don’t belong.

“He’s scared, I think… I think he feels like he doesn’t belong here” En said but looking back at Midoriya for confirmation, he gave him a nod.

“Doesn’t belong? but, isn’t being here the thing that he had been waiting for all these years?” Fourth asked.

They aren’t the same.

“Ah… it's because of your friends…” Izuku nodded.

“Son” his father began with a soft tone in his voice “I think, because of your memories, you were looking at this place with rose tinted glasses” he continued.

“You thought that when you came back things would be… the same but you broke the moment they weren’t” Izuku looked at him surprised because they sounded not only genuine but as if they came from experience.

“What... Do you mean?” first asked with slight hesitation.

Hisashi took a deep breath before he answered “One day… I went back to our old home” first froze in surprise at the words “At the time, I didn’t know how long I had lived for but a part of me… just wanted to go back and I thought that when I did everything would be the same”

“Mom and Dad would be there cooking dinner, you would be reading another one of your comics or working on homework and Kazue would come and visit us and you two dorks would have spent hours talking about comic heroes…” Everyone was looking at the old man as he told his tale, his face still held his smile but the usual mischief it held was gone and replaced by a deep sadness as his face finally began to show signs of the years.

“But when I arrived… It was gone. They had torn down every house and built new ones, nothing was left… so I left and never went back.” he finished with a deep sigh as everyone looked at him with multiple emotions clear on their face.

First didn’t speak and instead chose to look down at the floor, his hands on his side clenched into fists.

Izuku had somehow managed to calm himself down enough to breathe and talk again, even if his body still felt slightly numb and his chest heavy he couldn’t forget that he wasn’t alone and any of his classmates could come at any minute.

He took a few more breaths as he pushed the multitude of emotions that he had to deal with, including the ones about his father, to the side and did his best to act as if everything was fine as he went back to the common room.

He went with a smile on his face but it was nothing more than a mask as he sits down with the others and talks to them. He feels out of place. He remembered the room, talking to his friends about class and anything that came to their mind. He touches the seats passing his fingers over the soft cloth but he doesn’t feel it. He was replaced with a void of static.

So he continues to talk and smile but he feels as much of a ghost as the other successors.

----------------------

He wakes up the next day with a slight headache but he thankfully feels more like himself, whatever that means.

On a better note.

Today was their first day of class and he was ready to surprise Aizawa.

The walk to the classroom was fairly normal, his feet carried him there in automatic since he had already walked these halls hundreds of times but a sight had made him lose all the air inside his lungs.

Two blonde haired figures walked side by side on the opposite side of the hallway, both smiling brightly at each other as they chatted about their days, both of them shared so many similarities, like their blonde hair, bright blue eyes and warm smile, that they could be mistaken as father and son at first glance.

Izuku didn’t make a move as he forced himself to stare in front of him when Mirio and All Might in his weak form walked past him, not even giving him a glance.

That’s right, he had just been a spur of the moment thing.

The quirk was originally meant for Mirio.

...maybe he’ll do better than him.

“Izuku?” The warmth of Himiko's hand on his arm was enough for him to get a hold on himself and push past his thoughts “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

The knot in his throat barely allowed him to swallow down his sadness, let less say anything, so instead he just patted her head and gave her a shaky smile.

She carefully grabbed his hand and looked at him with a worried look that showed she didn’t believe he was okay but she gave him a reassuring smile “Hey, I know Aldera was hard but I’m sure things will start to look better for us here, I promise”

The confidence in her voice and the kindness in her eyes was more than enough for him to let a genuine smile slip into place and let out a low “thank you…” before walking to his classroom.

Himiko stayed behind looking at her brother's back wearing a worried expression. These past few days she had realized that something was wrong with Izuku, he kept staring into space more often, his muttering even more incomprehensible than usual and the way he carried himself had changed from that confident kid to someone who was carrying the weight of the world.

She wanted to know what was wrong but he kept deflecting it with smiles or by changing the subject and… that promise they made when they were younger kept ringing in her head.

She let out a deep sigh as she tried to shake the memory away before going to catch up to Izuku.

Chapter Text

It was a strange feeling to stand in UA again since he could help but remember the broken state it had been in the last time he visited.

The once impenetrable walls turned to pieces, pristine white halls stained in ash and blood, the golden gates bent beyond recognition. Sometimes, if he blinked, for a second it felt as if he was back there.

Izuku shook his head. Now's not the time to think about that because right now he was sitting in class 1-A waiting for his teacher to arrive, a small smirk grew on his face as he watched his classmates talk to each other, the excitement was almost palpable.

“Hey nerd, you're the one that knows about heroes, who do you think our homeroom teacher will be?” Kacchan looked back from his seat to him.

“I don’t know Kacchan, but I have a feeling it's someone none of us expect” His answer got him a questioning look from his friend but he just gave him a knowing smile.

And just as expected, a tired voice rang out making the class fall into silence “If you want to make friends than you better leave”

Everyone turned to look at… the strange man in a bright yellow sleeping bag on the ground, the first time he had been too stunned to even realize just how weird this was. Aizawa, somehow, managed to stand and take the sleeping bag off and looked at all of them “It took you eight seconds to quiet down” he swears that when his eyes went over Shinsou, his gaze softened.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta” He then shoved his hand into the sleeping bag and pulled out another bag which he then pulled out the P.E uniform… this was starting to give him a headache “Put these on and meet me in the P.E grounds in ten minutes”

He then walked out.

Everyone just stood frozen in place trying to process what it was that had just happened but their eyes then locked onto Midoriya as he calmly stood up from his chair and grabbed one of the uniforms before giving everyone a smile “Why are you all just standing there? Our teacher is waiting” Those words made everyone snap out of their trance and rush forward to grab a uniform while he just left with a smile.

If he was going to repeat school again, he’ll at least have some fun with it.

---------------

The fresh breeze felt nice on his skin and it at least helped him ignore the fact that there were two teachers in front of him.

“You must be wondering why I brought you all here for” Aizawa once more gave all of them an annoyed look before continuing “You’ll all be doing a quirk apprehension test” this got his class to burst into whispers.

“Except you Midoriya”

Silence fell on all of them and Izuku just looked at his teacher in complete confusion.

This was different, too different.

“You’ll be doing something different with me and that’s why I brought my coworker, Present Mic, to take my place for now” Aizawa explained but he kept his gaze on the greenette.

Mic smiled and pointed the students to another part of the grounds, the students gave him confused glances but Bakugo and Himiko were worried and he shared that feeling.

“Did something happen, Sensei?” he asked hoping that it wouldn’t be anything bad but his hopes were dashed when he saw the look of suspicion his teacher gave him.

“You’ll still be doing the exam, just a different one” He then gave him a creepy smile with too many teeth “You’ll have a spar with me”

And that is how Izuku now found himself in a cement ring with his teacher on the other side “This test won’t end until one of us gives up or is knocked out, understood?” his teacher asked and he just gave him a nod.

He slowly took in a deep breath. Last time, he had been too passive, he spent too much time running around like a headless chicken, his lack of action had cost the lives of others and even gotten his friends injured but now…

He let the air out. This time he would not hold his punches.

“You look like you are ready” His teacher said, his eyes already shining a crimson red.

He chuckled “Fighting a pro hero is a great honor, so I’m really excited” He could already feel the fire that were his quirks being snuffed out by Erasure but that only made the smile in his face widen.

“Let’s see what you are made of.”

Aizawa took the first move and sent his scarf forward, he had read Midoriya’s file multiple times, his quirk was an emitter type that allowed him to control fire so he was most likely used to keeping the distance but he already had his quirk erased so he’ll just panic and- What!?

Aizawa was taken aback when Izuku dashed forward and nimbly dodged his scarf without even a hint of his quirk and then threw a right hook at him.

He blocked it and sent a kick at the boy, but he ducked and sent an uppercut at him, Aizawa leaned back barely dodging the attack but that’s when he felt it, the heat.

He jumped back just to barely dodge the wall of fire that erupted in front of him, the intense heat forcing him to cover his face, only to shortly realize his mistake when he felt the pain from the kick he received on his side.

“Rule number one in fighting Eraserhead, always keep an eye on your opponent!” Izuku boasted as he used the fire he shot from his feet to speed up his momentum and move to his teachers blind spot just as they moved to erase their quirk.

He had already fought Aizawa multiple times in his life and while he had only come to defeat him a handful of times, he had learned more than a few tricks to deal with him.

While he was a great fighter, fights that span for a long time are his weakness, since he has dry eyes he can’t constantly use it before he has to blink and lose line of sight, so the most important thing in a fight against him is speed.

He needs to stay in his blind spot and use any moment where he isn’t looking at him to use his quirk and tire him out.

It was a rough but effective strategy he had made years ago.

He send another boosted kick to his teachers back, sending him forward but Aizawa isn’t an expert for nothing as he tucks and rolls before getting back into his feet and erasing his quirk once again as the flames died out.

Once again Izuku ran forward and concentrated on the gray scarf that shot forward to grab him. Aizawa’s binding cloth fighting style had been something that he had already seen millions of times and had even helped Shinsou perfect his mastery over so while he didn’t have a perfect plan against it, he was able to analyze the trajectory and move his body to dodge the restrains before going in for another punch at his teacher.

Aizawa already raised his right ready to block the right hook only to realized that it was a faint and block too late on the left and receive the left hook right to his face sending him to the ground.

Izuku took the chance and put a foot lightly on the fallen teacher's chest before summoning fire on his palm pointed at him, a wide grin on his face as excitement shone in his eyes.

Aizawa could barely keep his eyes open from the heat and by how much his eyes burned from overusing his quirk, he hated to admit it but, the kid won.

He let out a sigh before lowering his head to the ground “You win Midoriya, I give”

Izuku chuckled a little before taking his foot off his chest and offering him a hand. Aizawa was surprised at the strength he had to easily pull him up.

“If I may ask, why did you want to spar with me instead of the normal test?” Izuku asked.

Aizawa just sighed, he had lost, the kid at least deserved some answers “Because your file was too weird”

“My file was… weird?”

“Yes, the idea of someone getting their quirk at the age of 15 is unheard of so it raised some suspicion, and even now in our fight, you fought like an expert”

Izuku couldn’t help but smile, he had expected a reaction like this since he had a similar one before.

“Yeah I can see why it would be weird but it all has a really simple explanation” Izuku admitted.

“Well, I would love to hear it” Aizawa crossed his arms while looking at him.

“Like my file says, I only got my quirk less than a year before the exam so I spent my entire life as a quirkless” Izku looked down at his fist “I was heavily bullied because of that and even more for my dream to be a hero, for a long time I didn’t do anything, I just let them kick me down to the ground but one day… I got tired of it.”

“I decided that if they were still going to bully me I would at least make a good show of it, so I began to train.” He then turned to his teacher who looked at him surprised “My life from then got a lot more messy and even more after I got a sister”

Aizawa nodded “But what about your quirk?”

Izuku smiled “I’m getting there but first, Sensei, have you heard about the ‘forced awakening’ theory?”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, it sounded familiar but just that, so he shook his head.

“The theory stated that quirkless children like me aren’t entirely quirkless like one may come to believe, instead, it says that we do carry the quirk factor in our genes just that it's asleep, like how your recessive and dominant genes decide on what color your hair is” Izuku explained.

“But it also says that those with a sleeping quirk factor are capable to awaken it after going through an event that puts them under intense feelings of stress” Izuku watched as his teacher's face filled with understanding and looked at him with surprise.

“So you…”

Izuku sadly nodded “Yes, one day after school, me and my sister had an encounter with a villain, he made his intentions of killing us clear and I panicked, all I could think in the moment was ‘I can’t let my sister get hurt’ and then…” he snapped his fingers and made a small flame appear as an example.

“Since then, I spent my days practicing. Having a quirk had been my biggest wish so when I got one I couldn’t help myself from seeing what it could do and…” He looked at the small flame he had made before snuffing it out on his hand “I knew that I would be at a disadvantage compared to others since they had their entire life to train and learn them and I only had a few months before the exam so I had to put all of my effort into it”

He turned once more to his teacher with a smile “Was that a good answer?”

Aizawa looked at Midoriya once more and felt as things began to make a lot more sense to him, maybe he had misjudged too fast, the case about Remnant and AFO had been putting him on edge and he jumped on the first suspicion he had on a student.

He sighed “It was, and you have also shown me that you have a lot of talent, now come on problem child, the others should be finishing soon”

Aizawa couldn’t see it but at the mention of the nickname, Izuku smiled brightly as he followed closely behind.

-----------------

The next day came with a blink of an eye.

For Izuku, all of the classes began to blend together since his knowledge on the subject was already a few years ahead but his attention was set on the last and most important class of the day.

Heroic studies.

The class that was supposed to be taught by the one and only All Might, enfasis on supposed.

Because once again, Izuku was looking at another change in the timeline as both All Might and Aizawa stood in front of the class.

The students kept quiet as Aizawa gave them all a steady glare but the excitement from seeing the number one hero was still obvious in their shining eyes.

“ WELCOME STUDENTS TO THE HEROIC STUDIES CLASS!! ” All Might loudly exclaimed.

“ IN HERE, WE’LL BUILD THE FOUNDATION TO YOUR HEROIC SPIRITS!! AND TO START IT OFF WE’LL DO A -” “We’ll do a battle exercise” All Might was interrupted by Aizawa who was glaring at him while covering his ears.

“This will also be the chance for all of you to try the gear that you requested” the teacher then pressed a button on their remote that caused panels on the walls to open and release metallic suitcases on everyone's desks.

Izuku smiled as he looked at the suitcase and remembered the times he spent with his sister throwing ideas at each other on how their suits could look until they both came to some satisfying results.

“ SO PUT ON THOSE SUITS AND MEET US AT GROUND BETA! AND DON’T FORGET THAT FROM NOW ON ALL OF YOU ARE OFFICIALLY HEROES!!! ” All Mights booming voices bounced around the walls as the students hurried to the changing rooms, all burning with determination in their hearts.

---------------------------

“You look great kiddo!” Nana said as Izuku looked at his reflection in the mirror after putting on his new hero costume.

This time, instead of letting his mother make him one, he had sent it to one of the different companies that helped UA and was glad that they didn’t disappoint.

He kept the normal full-body jumpsuit but this time it was a dark red with white accents, weighted fingerless gloves and armored shoes to pack a punch when he fought hand to hand. One important detail was that around him there was an exoskeleton that was supposed to help him move easier but that was just a lie, it actually held no purpose whatsoever but it worked as a great cover for when he used One For All.

But the most important thing wasn’t the suit, it was the black suitcase next to him that filled him with excitement. The day before he had left a request to the support department and asked a specific pink haired mechanic to help him build a few support items. The ones she had given him were prototypes but if they worked like he had asked then they could give him a whole new boost in battle, but for now he waved it away letting the sludge teleport it away, he’ll wear them soon enough.

He finally left the changing room alone and headed to where his class was going to be held. In a few minutes he found his classmates eagerly talking to each other about their new costumes.

“Izuku!” Himiko ran over to him and tackled him into a hug and he did his best to hug her back while avoiding the spiky parts in her costume which were… a lot. “This is so exciting!! We are actually wearing our own hero costumes!!” Himiko was at the verge of exploding from happiness.

Her own hero costume was a red bodysuit with black and white accents, around her waist is a belt with different pockets most of them filled with sharp objects and some with first aid, under her best is where a skirt that reached beneath her knees began, the outside color of it being black but on the inside it shined a bright blood red. She also wore white weighted fingerless gloves and armored shoes similar to his.

One key factor about her suit is that when they were throwing ideas at one another Izuku decided to steal one from the girl herself from when she was a villain and recommended the same machine she u sed. So now she carries three large silver canisters with needles poking out on her belt which connect them to the two larger cylinders strapped to the back of her belt.

“It- it looks great” he said turning away trying to hide the smile on his face as he saw the similarities on their costumes but he knew he failed when she giggled.

“Sensei! Regarding the performance ground we’ll be using, is it the mock-city from the entrance exam?” Iida asked, his voice slightly muffled from the suit of armor he was in.

“While it would be good to use those more than once a year, UA prides itself on making sure their students are ready for anything, so this one will be an indoor battle trail” Aizawa explained before glancing at All Might who smiled brightly at his co worker permission to blow his eardrums.

“ AND FOR THIS TEST, YOU’LL SEPARATE INTO ‘VILLAIN’ AND ‘HERO’ GROUPS FOR A TWO-ON-TWO BATTLE!! ” All Might loudly explained.

“So how do we determine who wins?”
“Is it okay if I just blow them away?”

“If we are separating into groups, what would be the best way to do so?”

“Doesn’t this cape just look exquisite on me?”

“Ugh, one at a time” Aizawa grumbled “The students on the villain team will have to protect a fake weapon while the heroes try to stop them. If the heroes manage to capture the villains or get to the weapon before time runs out then they are the winners, but if the villains manage to keep the heroes away from the weapon or capture them instead, then they win”

“ AND THE WAY YOUR TEAMMATES AND OPPONENTS ARE GOING TO BE CHOSEN IS… BY LOTTERY! ” All Might said as he pulled out a box with a hole on top and placed it in front of him.

“Is that really how we’ll do it!?” Asked Iida in mild surprise.

Izuku chuckled a little at seeing how green his friends were to everything again “This is actually a really good idea, usually in cases like these, pros don’t get to choose their partners and are forced to adapt around them, so doing things like this would be a great way to test that” he happily explained.

“Thank you for explaining problem child, now stop wasting time and get over here”

Izuku stuck his hand inside and pulled out a blue ball with a white letter A on it, he smiled fondly, guess somethings can’t be changed, but he did wonder who his teammate would be, he knew everyone here inside and out so he should do a go- “Oh Midoriya, looks like we are in the same team” he turned to look at the girl with orange hair and turquoise qipao with a forced smile.

Chapter Text

Izuku stared at the fake bomb that stood in the middle of the room with a frown on his face. While he did enjoy the exercise, the changes that had happened had thrown him a little off balance but they were nothing big so he shouldn’t worry too much about them.

“I feel like we were given quite a heavy hand…” Kendo complained as she looked out the window to where the heroes were waiting for their queue to begin the exercise. Izuku sighed, he couldn’t blame her, anyone would think that when they saw who they were against.

At the bottom of the building, looking up at them was a girl with pink skin and hair, while Mina was certainly a tricky opponent. The real monster stood next to her, the two toned hair boy, Todoroki Shouto, son of the number two hero and possible future number one.

His quirk allows him to freeze and burn things with ease making him a powerhouse in a different level to the rest of the class… Or at least he would say that if he was the Todoroki of the future, but now? He was just a kid with daddy issues, something that Izuku could easily use to not only win against him but also push him forward earlier than before.

Taking a deep breath, a smile fell on his lips as he turned to look at his companion with a wicked shine in his eyes “Don’t worry, the fight hasn’t even started so let’s show those heroes who they are up against” and he got a determined nod from her before he began explaining his plan.

--------------------------------------------

After the initial five minutes were up, the heroes began to move towards the building and Izuku couldn’t help the smile that came as he watched Todoroki stop Mina before she could walk in.

He walked away from the window and turned to Kendo “It’s starting, you remember your part?” he asked her and she nodded and he smiled at her as his hands were engulfed by his flames “Good, then let’s get this party started”

In his last life, Todoroki wanted to show the difference between him and the others as he cleared the entire exercise by himself and his ice but this time things wouldn’t be going his way.

Kendo quickly hid behind the bomb and seconds later the temperature dropped as Todoroki used his ice to freeze the entire building but Izuku didn’t stay still, as soon as the ice began to creep into the room he used his quirk to engulf the room with flames but made sure to go around Kendo and the bomb as to not hurt them.

And just like that, the ice melted and evaporated in seconds, completely ruining the ice users plan and giving them a fighting chance.

“Okay, that the first step, now for the hard part” He looked back at Kendo who was, thankfully, intact “Remember, we need to tire them out first or else we won’t have any chance at winning”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let her past me” She gave him a confident smile as the two of them went their different ways.

That’s right, the plan was to stall until the time ran out. Fighting either of them head on would be dangerous since Mina at this point focuses on speed with her acid and Todoroki would not hesitate to try and make a glacier in the middle of the corridor so the best thing to do is tire them out.

They both share a similar weakness, the longer the battle goes, the weaker they get.

If Todoroki uses his ice for too long without using his fire he begins getting frostbite and Mina’s acid will begin to hurt her so it's just a matter of time before they fall. Oh, and talking about the devil, look who arrived.

Izuku and Todoroki locked eyes across the hallway, seeing him completely free from the ice made his eyes harden(or his singular eye since the other one was covered by his suit which looked a lot worse than he remembered) “Out of my way” he coldly demanded.

Izuku clicked his tongue and muttered “forgot how rude you were…” which got him a small raise of an eyebrow but he just  ignored it as he raised his hand and pointed at him “Sorry but I can’t let you pass that easily or else this exercise would mean nothing” he then gave his best smile and waved his hand sending a wave of fire towards him which Todoroki blocked with a wall of ice.

As both powers met each other, a thick cloud of fog covered the hallway making it impossible for the two teens to see each other, although it only affected Todoroki since Izuku had already activated Search and Heat vision to see his surroundings.

Todoroki took a step back and looked around trying to guess where Midoriya could be. He had a strong fire quirk so he would most likely try to use another attack like that in a large scale to try and get him so the best thing would be to make a shield to avoid the- “Uugh!” His train of thought was rudely interrupted when a sudden fist struck him on the nose making him stumble back and he barely got a glimpse of Izuku going back into the fog.

He punched him, really hard, was his nose bleeding? Oh it definitely was, he had not thought about him just running up to him and giving him a right hook, usually if you have a good distance related quirk you stay away but he decided to play it bold, this was already looking to be a lot more difficult than he originally thought.

This time he did his best to try and listen for any clues on where the next attack could come from and then he heard a soft tap behind him and quickly make a wall of ice only to watch in shock as an armored shoe broke through the ice, shattering it to pieces like it was glass.

Izuku then tried to send another fist his direction but he pushed himself away by making a much thicker wall of ice in between the two of them but that also couldn’t hold for long as the flames quickly melted a hole through it which Izuku jumped through and rushed towards him.

Todoroki clenched his fist and focused everything he had into his right side making the temperature drop exponentially making ice appear all around him and some to cover his hand and then he clapped his hands as from the walls around them ice shot forwards and captured Izuku and freezing everything from his arms under.

Todoroki gasped for air as he could feel his hand shaking, the effects of over exerting himself already apparent with the frost that covered some of his face but he could relax as he looked at the trapped greenette in the ice “It’s over” he stated.

Izuku laughed and gave him a predatory smile as his throat began to shine a bright orange “You sure about that, buddy?”

------------------------

“Brrr, I’m starting to regret not adding enough fur to this thing” Mina complained about the cold as she skated across the building using her acid and raised her eyebrows in surprise when she heard a loud boom coming from another part of the building and then stopping with a bitter smile as she looked at the girl in front of her “I guess our plan didn’t work”

“Nope sorry, Midoriya is just really good at being a heat lamp” Kendo joked as she got into position to fight.

Mina gulped as she tried to think of a way around the girl, she had the advantage of speed on her side so if she is able to avoid a grapple then she should be able to get out easily.

Small ball of acid formed in her hands and threw them at the girl before dashing forward and taking the chance only to be met with a giant hand that almost crushes her and blocks her path.

This time it's Kendo who strikes back and swings her giant fist at Mina but the pink girl is much faster and is able to slip backwards making the hand crash into a wall breaking it apart, her face goes pale at the strength of her punches.

Kendo launches a barrage of fists but Mina is able to avoid them all with her acid and lets them hit the walls and floor but by the end of it she can feel her stomach drop as she realizes her mistake as she looks at the hallway.

It's completely destroyed.

The ground is broken and covered in rubble from where Kendo had struck and that made using her acid to move imposible, Kendo on the other hand had a smug smile as she looked at the panicking pink girl.

This type of battle field was planned to balance the scales against Mina since she wouldn’t be capable of skating along the floor and would be forced into an equal fight. Taking the chance, Kendo rushed forward with her hands this time in their normal size and sent strike after strike against the pink girl.

The thing about Kendo is that she didn’t design her hero suit like a qipao for nothing, ever since she was young she had grown an interest into chinese martial arts even if they had been from movies and shows, she spend her years training and managed to incorporate her quirk into the style while following her dreams of becoming a hero and for that she was only a little ahead of others as she had a grasp of martial arts which could easily be overpowered by someone with a stronger quirk, but in this fight, as she slowly backed Mina against a wall, she had the upper hand.

But the pinkette wasn't going to let herself be caught that easily as she let more of her acid drip from her hands, she had to drop the acidity to a level where it only stung someone's skin since she didn’t want to hurt her classmates, and swung her arm forward sending her acid directly at Kendo who ducked, quickly avoiding the acid and then stretched her leg and sweeped Mina of her feet.

While the pink haired girl may lack fighting knowledge, the one thing she is the most proud of is her body control.

She reacted quickly and threw her hands back and shifted her body just like she had learned making her land on a handstand, she sent Kendo a smile before drooping down and beginning to spin forcing the other girl to step away to avoid being kicked in the face.

She quickly pushed herself back up and stared down at her opponent with a smile before rushing forward once again.

------------------------------

Izuku looked down at the boy that stood on his knees in front of him, gasping for air and shivering from the cold “What a let down…” he said looking at Todoroki.

“What?”

“I said that you’re a let down, did I expect too much?” he said as he extinguished the fire in his hands “So much for the son of Endeavor”

Todoroki clenched his teeth and glared at Izuku who shook off the small pieces of frost on his suit “I’m not like him”

“I never said you were, I just thought you were going to be better” Midoriya just shrugged “Like seriously, son of one of the top heroes, an amazing quirk, one would think that you could be in a level of your own but here you are…” he walked closer to him and crouched down to his level while giving him disapproving look.

Todorokis eyes burned with anger “I’m giving it my all, who are you to tell me how to do things?”

“I’m someone who is planning to become a hero and save people, unlike you who is only going to get others killed” he then flicked him on the nose.

“I can become a hero and I can save others!’ he barked back as the anger of someone looking down at him even with all the effort he had put into it.

“Maybe, but you’ll never be a good hero if you keep doing this” Izuku pointed at his face.

“Doing what?”

“Giving a half-assed effort” he stated.

“Half-assed? I can easily win against any other student, how is that half-assed?” Todoroki asked.

“Yeah, you could definitely win against most but that’s only because of how strong your quirk is, but if we are talking about you in specific, you’re the weakest out of everyone” he simply stated.

Todoroki only looked at him with a mixture of anger and confusion and Izuku sighed “You haven’t even noticed have you? Everyone is doing their best with what they were given, right now my teammate is stalling for time against yours and I can tell you with complete certainty that they are both giving it their all and meanwhile, look at you, shivering in cold because you are giving yourself a handicap”

Todoroki quickly glanced at his left side which was being completely covered by his suit before looking down “I won’t use it, I won’t ever use his damned fire”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, even if he already knew everything, and asked “His? Do you mean your fathers?” Todoroki didn’t answer but that was more than enough for him “Jezz, you’re worse than I imagined, what do you mean by his fire?”

“That bastard ruined our family, ruined my… I won’t use his power no matter what” Todoroki said, his hands bundled into tight fists beside him.

“His power?” Izuku muttered again and took a deep breath. He had prepared for this so let’s throw those dice, he crossed his arms and asked “Todoroki, who am I fighting right now?”

“Wha-” Izuku cut him off “Answer”

“...me”

“Okay, whose ice is this?”

“Mine”

“Good, now, whose fire is that?” he said poking his left arm

“My fathers”

“Wrong” Izuku immediately countered “Don’t tell me you already forgot the first question, okay answer this, is Endeavor here?”

“No, what does this-” he was once more cut off “I’m not done yet”

“Okay, so Endeavor isn’t here, we’ve established, so can you still say that those flames are his?”

“Yes, they are the ones that hurt my family, that’s why-” 

“Did you hurt your family?” Izuku suddenly asked.

“...what?” Todoroki looked at him with shock in his eyes, did he… did he think he…

“I asked, did you hurt your family? Did you use those flames to hurt anyone in your family?” Izuku asked with a bored expression staring at Todorokis face.

“N-no, I would never…” Todoroki tried to defend himself only for Izuku to stand up.

“Okay, then let’s sum it up, the person I am fighting is Todoroki Shouto, and he has been using his ice to fight but not his fire”

“It’s not-”

“God, do I have to spell it to you? Endeavour isn’t here, he isn’t the one that's fighting me, it’s you Todoroki and that goes to those flames too, your father isn’t here to tell you what to do so get it through your head already, that power is yours Todoroki and noone elses, you’re the only one that gets to decide how to use them, you got it?”

Last time he used those words, he had been able to get through to him but it had been under very different circumstances and yet right now, Todoroki stared at the ground with wide eyes as the words slowly sank into his heart, although they were rough, their true meaning did not escape him.

Izuku then smiled at himself as he saw the small but growing fruits of his labor, if he kept things as they were going, Todoroki should be able to use his fire earlier than last time.

Suddenly a loud bell rang out catching everyone's attention and Izuku inwardly smiled as he heard the loud voice of his teacher “ TIME’S UP! THE VILLAINS HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP THE BOMB SAFE THROUGH THE ENTIRE EXCERCISE THUS THEY ARE THE WINNERS !!”

Izuku couldn’t help his smile as he heard the announcement, his plan had worked. He turned to look at Todoroki who still looked at the ground but raised his head when he saw a hand, Izuku was stretching his hand out to him with a small smile “Come on, everyone is waiting for us”

Todoroki blinked and for a few seconds didn’t do anything before slowly taking his hand with his help get back on his feet and walk back to their class.

“Since that has finally ended, can anyone tell me who was the mvp of the match?” Aizawa asked as he waved at the four students lined up in front of them all.

Kendo and Mina stood straight covered in bruises from their fight, Todoroki had a blanket over him to fight off the cold from his quirk while he looked down clearly thinking about something, and Izuku stood with a relaxed pose and was the one with the least of injuries out of all of them.

Izuku's eyes automatically went to the girl he knew would answer but was surprised to see a conflicted look on her face before she finally spoke.

“If I had to choose, the option would be really close between Midoriya and Kendo” Yaoyorozu began “They both handled the situation with cool heads and worked well together but if we had to choose, the answer would be Midoriya. He was able to devise a counter strategy against their opponents based on their weaknesses and how to exploit them while making it around their own strengths as we could see with his fight with Todoroki, not only could he easily use his quirk to counter the ice attacks but also use the fog created by their crash for his own gain in the battle”

Aizawa simply nodded since the girl had easily said the same thing he had been thinking while watching the match.

That boy had proved to him just how good the control over his quirk and his body is in their spar but today he showed off his mental abilities, if he used that mind of his he could reach great height even with a weak quirk.

But, he thought back to his original doubts about the boy, it was all too abnormal for a normal child, even the other students that came from recommendation barely hold a candle against him.

He frowned as he thought, could this be a rare talent or maybe… something darker.

Izuku laughed and smiled “Why Yaoyorozu, you almost make me sound like a villain” he teased.

The black haired girl gave him a formal yet friendly smile “Well, wasn’t that the assignment after all?”

Chapter Text

A new day came for the students at UA as their second day at the school began and at the dorms, the vestiges all fidgeted with nerves, today was finally the day where the USJ would be attacked, and while they knew how strong Izuku was they couldn't help but worry.

Izuku sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror, everything had gone as planned yesterday, Shigaraki had taken down the wall and sneaked in. He would be there to ambush him and his class but this time, he was ready.

Shigaraki Tomura or more specifically, Tenko Shimura.

In his past life he had been the biggest thorn that he had to deal with or better yet, he had been the entire rose bush, he made his life a race for his survival as he tried multiple times to take his or his friends lives and all to the point of becoming the host of All For One for a while only for him to be discarded when he had done his job. Back then, he looked like an insurmountable problem that he would spend years trying to overcome, but now? He felt guilty, with both AFO and OFA, it was like he was bullying a child.

Should he feel bad though?

…

Nah, he deserved it.

"Isn't that a bit too cruel?" Nana asked but Izuku just shrugged, maybe it was but so it was to watch his friends be killed or be used as experiments, Nana flinched at his thoughts and looked away ashamed "yeah, sorry…"

"Anyway, what is power for if you can't use it to knock people down a peg or two?" His father said blatantly ignoring the glares from the other ghosts.

Izuku softly chuckled at their antics as he felt a little tension seep out of his body, it was nice knowing that they were there for him. With one final look at the mirror, a flash of red passing through his eyes, he walked out of his room, determined to stop the incoming storm.

-----------

Izuku could feel the vibration from the truck through his entire body as his fingers anxiously tapped at his leg, the only reassurance he had was the extra weight in one of his bags from the inventions that he had asked Mei to make.

"You okay man? You're sweating bullets" Kirishima asked, he knew he was trying to be friendly but it only made Izuku feel more self aware, what if they figured out something was wrong?

"I- I'm fine, just a little nervous is all" he lied as he gave him a shaky smile "this is a rescue event and my quirk isn't the most safe"

"You're selling yourself short bro, you're super smart so I'm sure that you'll find a way to still use ut to help" Kaminari giving him a smile before turning to look at Bakugo "not like some others"

Bakugo turned to glare at him and barked back "What did you say, you bastard!?"

Izuku smiled as he watched his friends laugh and talk to each other, he'll make sure to keep these moments safe.

Suddenly, a large shadow covered the bus and they all looked out the windows to see the giant building that grew closer by the second, the golden letters standing over the entrance, the USJ.

Izuku swallowed as the bus slowed to a stop, there's no turning back now.

"Alright, everyone get out" Aizawa said as he got out of his sleeping bag and walked out followed by his students. Izuku stayed at the back of the group and looked around, he could see No. 13 but no All Might, he must have run out of time like normal. That's good, he wasn't sure what he would do if he was here.

Aizawa took a spot next to the space hero and began his lecture but Izuku had already stopped listening, instead, he slowly took out the beta Mid-gauntlets that Mei made, they weren't as good as the ones he used in the future but he trusted her.

His eyes looked at the scenery behind his teachers as he felt the gauntlets wrap around his arms and he prepared his quirks.

Then he saw it.

The small purple hole in the middle of the plaza.

Pale fingers that began the peek from it as it grew bigger and bigger.

And a Shigaraki peeked his ugly head.

Aizawa had already noticed but before he could say anything, Izuku had already acted.

'One For All and Smokescreen!' A massive cloud of smoke exploded from underneath his feet already covering everyone. Izuku burst forward with a single leap, his body covered in smoke making him look more like a ghost than human, perfectly hiding his identity and thanks to his other quirks, his vision was perfectly fine.

He gave a quick glance back and he could already see Aizawa run out of the smoke cloud with his goggles on and looked between him and the growing wave of villains underneath them.

'Blackwhip + Rivet Stab'

The black and red tendrils burst out of his hands and their form changed as spikes formed around them, he pulled back and using the momentum, slammed down on all the villains in his path, impaling anyone unlucky enough to get in his way.

Aizawa watched in surprise and horror at the mysterious figure as it swung the giant whips around with ease, in the process taking out villains left and right, but he couldn't concentrate too much on them as he had his on fair of bad guys to deal with, for now he was glad that they seemed to be on their side.

"What the hell!?" Shigaraki screamed as he watched the scene in anger "Who the fuck is that!?" This wasn't supposed to happen, he had infiltrated UA and even planned an ambush for those low leveled kids but then this- this glitch! Came out of nowhere and started causing chaos.

"This is a bad turn of events, Shigaraki I recommend we-" "Shut it! We aren't changing our plans! That bastard is just another mob so just follow the plan and get those kids! Meanwhile..." Then a cruel smile grew on his chapped lips as he looked at the purple skin beast beside him "I'll make good use of our DPS"

The humanoid smoke, Kirogiri, just nodded before disappearing, Shigaraki looked at the beast his sensei had given him, a monster with enough strength to beat All Might, those small fries had no chance against it "Nomu…" with a raise of his pale hand, he pointed at the two people fighting off the villains before saying with a sadistic smile "Tear them to pieces"

The Nomus body trembled as its eyes focused on the fight before him before flexing its legs and dashing forward leaving behind a crater and let out an inhumane screech.

Izuku easily dodged the attacks of the villains, compared to the enemies he's fought, they are nothing but that all changed when he heard a sound that he was all too familiar with. The Nomu was on the move, he turned to the source of the sound and he saw the hulking mass of muscle approach them as fast as a bullet but Izuku wasn't scared.

He had already fought against high-end Nomus so one from the early batches was nothing more than just a nuisance but it was still a threat to everyone else, he needed to get rid of it now.

'Multiplier + Hypertrophy + Kinetic Booster X4 + Springlike Limbs + Air Cannon'

He felt the quirks act immediately as two other arms grew out of his side and suddenly tripled in size before he pulled them all back before throwing a series of punches forward.

The combination of quirks caused three massive bursts of air to shoot from all of his arms, turning the villains before him to pieces but also sending the Nomu flying back.

But he knew it wasn't over so he dashed forward only to stop as Danger Sense activated and he followed his instinct as he ducked under the massive boulder that flew over him, the Nomu was already up and healing itself.

Izuku clicked his tongue, while regeneration is the best thing to have, fighting someone with it is a different thing entirely. The Nomu screeched once again and dashed forward and Izuku prepared himself as he pulled back his arms.

Except that the Nomu, jumped over him.

The Nomu continued it's dash even when Izuku turned around in surprise only for it to change to horror as the monster ran towards his teacher. Flashes of his wounded teacher after his original fight with the artificial life came to his mind, it seemed like it had decided to instead go for him since he was the weaker of the two.

"No!!" He screamed as he sent multiple black whips to hold the monster back before jumping on its back.

Anger flooded his mind and his body reacted faster than his mind could. His hand shot forward and tightly gripped its exposed brain causing it to scream in pain but Izuku wasn't done. He needed to dispose of it and what better way than to make it powerless.

Red lighting enveloped the two of them and Izuku's view changed, the world around him turned black and white and he could suddenly see the familiar balls of light inside everyone but he focused on the prey he already had.

Inside the Nomu was a ball of light that was bigger than anyone else's but it shifted around almost as if it could shatter at any moment.

They were hurt, scared. They want out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out

He could feel the same emptiness in his stomach growing like it had done when he fought Stain. He was hungry, empty, he needed to feast.

His arm suddenly lit up as shiny lines of green light spread from his hand but from his fingertips, red strings came out and moved like snakes as they wrapped around the light and pulled it towards him.

When it met his hand it began to sink into him sending ripples of energy through him, he could feel them, the multiple quirks they had sewn together, at least five, it truly was a feast, but the hole didn't disappear it instead grew, it was so hungry.

The lighting soon disappeared and Izuku let go of the brain before pulling his arm back and in one swift punch, completely erased it's head. The body, now lacking anything to give it orders, fell to the ground as dark blue blood sprayed from the stump.

It didn't move, it didn't heal.

It was dead.

Izuku slowly stood back up and looked around at the scene, in the distance he could feel… no, taste the powerful quirks of their classmates, they must have been scattered by Kurogiri, but that's not important.

What was important was the buffet in front of them, balls of light all waiting for them to consume but there was one that they could not stop looking 

A gray ball of light that exudes the smell of death and rust.

Decay.

Their red eyes shone through the smoke around their body giving them a demonic appearance and the bloodlust that burst from them, threatening to drown everyone in their rage.

"We are not done with you yet" a thousand voices spoke from the same mouth that twisted into a deranged smile, red strings only visible to their eyes still hanging on their fingertips.

------------------

Himiko doesn’t understand how it happened.

One moment she was excitedly listening to his teachers and the next, everything went to shit. A large cloud of smoke covered her and her classmates and she then heard Aizawa-sensei tell No. 13 to keep them safe, was something happening?

Then, 13 raised their finger up and a small blackhole formed sucking in all of the smoke finally letting them see the terrifying situation that they were trapped in, an army of villains rushed towards two silhouettes, one she could recognize as her teacher but the other one was completely covered in smoke making them hard to make out.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, another cloud of smoke appeared, this one a deep purple with shining yellow eyes(?) appeared behind them and spread into a large wall, covering their only exit "This may be a rough greeting but it is a pleasure to meet the little heroes of future, now don't make a mess and die"

A laugh suddenly stuck out from the group of kids and they all turned to look at the boy with messy purple hair who had a scarily family toothy smile "seriously? You bunch of wimps think you can win against The symbol of peace, you guys are delusional" Shinsou mocked the villain getting confused looks from everyone.

"Hm, you aren't the golden eggs of the-" suddenly, the villain suddenly went quiet and Shinsou carefully walked up to it with a confident yet strained smile.

"Turn back to your original form" he ordered and the mist villain complied, turning into a more humanoid for even wearing a two piece suit which made it seem like he would fit better in a bar. That's when they all remembered, Brainwashing, it was his quirk.

"This guy's mind is weird, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hold him down" Shinsou said, looking back at 13 who was already moving to his side before three large explosions rocked the place.

The students all turned back at the scene of the fight only to see a terrible image, blood and corpses thrown across the ground, some of them ripped apart, bit in the middle of the blood stained battlefield was the smoke covered figure fighting some strange muscular purple duck before it let out an ear piercing screech.

13 pushed Shinsou away from the villain as he held his head in his hands trying his hardest to keep control but as blood began to drip out of his nose he screamed "Everyone run!"

The mist villain began to move once again, their voice calm but a hint of anger clear in it "An unexpected but futile effort nonetheless, now be scattered!" The purple mist rushed them like a wave, some only capable of stepping back in shock while others jumped out of the way.

Himiko had barely any time to react and all she could do was look around in panic as she tried to find a glimpse of her brother in the crowd of her classmates.

And her world was consumed by the mist.

Chapter Text

To say that he was surprised was an understatement.

He was shocked, astonished, flabbergasted, startled, all of those words and more as Shigaraki watched the weapon they had spent years working on to kill All Might be torn apart by some mystery bastard.

But, most importantly, he was scared.

He didn’t notice it before but, this glitch as he has come to call it, gave off the same pressure that he had only felt once before. It felt like that of an unending abyss that threatened to swallow it all, like he was just a small ant in front of a mountain, incapable of reaching it, the disparity between their strengths as obvious as how the sky was blue.

And the only other person that ever made him feel like this was… Sensei. But he is a one of a kind existence, so how? How was it possible for this thing to exist? All he could do was stumble back as he watched the glitch jump around group to group and… and drained them of their quirks, he could even do that? If he didn’t already know that Sensei was stuck back at the base he would have thought that it was him.

That monster kept moving around faster than anyone could keep up, unleashing a barrage of different quirks on whoever was on his way, ripping and tearing while the million of voices that came from it laughed like a bunch of fucking kids in a candy store.

“K-Kurogiri…” Shigaraki whispered, the bloodlust from the monster making the words get stuck in his throat, hoping that the cloud of mist would hear him and get him out of there “Kurogi-ugh!” He wanted to try once more but something pulled his arm back and pushed him to the ground.

“Don’t try to resist, you’ve already lost” Eraserhead said, his hair floating above him and a faint shine of red coming from inside his goggles.

“What the hell are you doing!? Don’t you see the bigger threat over there!? Why the hell are you aggroed on me!?” he complained as he struggled to get out of his grip, tapping the ground with his hand but his quirk wasn’t reacting.

“That threat is on my side, so for now, I’ll focus on you” The hero said as he tightened the bandages that wrapped around his arm making him grunt

“Oh Eraserhead” the sudden cacophony of voices that spoke with a sickly sweet tone made the two of them stop as a cold shiver ran down their spines and they both looked to the figure that slowly walked to them, one of its black tentacles dragged a lifeless corpse of a grunt behind them “You already wrapped up our little present, how kind of you”

The hero glared at the glitch, his hold on his scarf tightening “Remnant, it's over, you’ve done enough” Glitch (or is it Remnant?) lets out a boisterous laugh “Enough? Oh my dear hero, this was just the beginning, this was just a small step in our plan, how could we ignore such delicious buffet that was waiting for us” as they said it, the tentacle tossed the body it had speared before as if it was trash “ And that one, Shigaraki, he is the next step that we need to take to reach him ” their words were covered in venom as they looked down at the scared villain.

“Him? Who are you-” Eraser wanted to ask more, he had thought of the vigilante dead and they suddenly appeared alongside a villain attack almost as if they already knew it was going to happen but the two of them had sadly forgotten about the third party in their conversation.

"As if I'd let you beat me that easily!" Shigaraki bends his arm back, too fast for anyone to react and he takes hold of the hero's leg, the clothes age and turn gray before falling off, then his fingers sink and touch his skin and it begins to crumble off like dirt.

"No!!" A flash of green replaces the red for a second before Glitch lunges at the villain as the hero jumps off him to free his leg, the smoke covered lunatic was only inches away from touching him before a purple gate opened beneath Shigaraki and made him disappear.

"Kurogiri, what took you so long!?" The well dressed villain stood next to where the portal left him and looked at the hurt hero and the angry vigilante "I see that our plan has… fallen apart, it is imperative for us to retreat"

Upon hearing them talk, Glitch could only grind his teeth "AS IF I'D LET YOU!!" In a second, they had already left the ground, with a single jump closing the distance between them as they pulled back their hand and slashed at them but Kurogiri was faster as they covered them both and teleported away.

The vigilante slashed at the empty air but the air pressure that ripped through left the marks of claws across deep in the ground and ripping out of the ground anything in its path. Glitch just stood there looking at the spot where the villains had once stood, his expression unreadable because of the curtain of smoke that covered them but, from the bloodlust that they exuded, their anger was obvious.

"Remnant… why? Why are you here? What did you want from that villain?" Eraserhead asked as he tried to stand only to fall back onto the ground with a grunt, his knee was broken from what Shigaraki had done to him.

The hero looked back at the vigilante only to flinch back as they found them standing right in front of them, the red light from their eyes shining through the mist that surrounded them glaring down on him and he felt the same pressure he had all those years ago when they had first met face to face.

Slowly, they began to raise their arm "that quirk is wasted in a man with dry eyes like you" they said in a flat and empty tone of voice, their hand slowly coming closer to their face, and all Aizawa could do was watch, watch as the predator finally caught his prey.

" HEY!! " The smoke covered hand moved away from his face and caught something that had been thrown at the vigilante, the two of them look to who had intervened and Aizawa felt his stomach drop as he saw an angry Himiko being held back by a scared Jiro and Yoayorozu " GET AWAY FROM MY TEACHER!! "

Glitch clenched their fist and opened it letting the now bent knife fall to the ground, they fully turned to look at the girls and they must have felt the pressure as they all took a step back " you little - shit!" The vigilante had taken a few steps toward them before pain exploded in their head making them hold their head "he's faster than I thought, but… I already lost what I came here for" the vigilante didn't waste any more time as they raised their arms as red lighting enveloped them and slammed the ground with all their strength.

The ground shook from the blow and then exploded sending everyone back and making a cloud of dirt around them, faintly through it they could see the figure of someone covered in lighting jumping away. 

"Teacher!" Himiko was the first one to react as she tried looking around before stumbling and falling down the massive crater that the explosion had caused, thankfully she didn't break anything but she was able to hear someone else grunt "Aizawa-sensei!"

"Shit, over here!" When she heard his voice she rushed over to where she heard it although the dust made it hard to see him but after a while she could finally see him laying down on the ground.

"Teacher!" She rushed to his side and winced at the open wound on his leg "what happened!? What did that villain do!?" Aizawa just let out a sigh as his whole body relaxed after the ordeal, villains attacked the USJ, Remnant came back and now there are more than a few corpses that they have to clean up but first "When we get back, you will be in trouble Himiko"

"What!? why!?"

--------------------------

It's cold, Izuku thinks. 

He opens his eyes and finds himself in a black void. 

He's dreaming again.

There's a glimmer somewhere far ahead, his feet begin moving on their own leading him to what he saw but with every step he feels his a pit in his stomach grow and grow.

With every step, something wraps around his heart, a cold and tight chain that pulls at him, tightening with every step.

He wants to stop, he doesn't want to see what awaits him, he shuts his eyes and struggles but his body doesn't answer, it keeps moving.

He's become a prisoner to his own body.

He curls up into a ball inside of himself as he feels every step that he takes, he feels as the air he takes is less and less, the trembling in his hands worsens and he closes them, the pain of his nails digging into the palm of his hand being the only thing he can hold on to.

Then, after what seemed like a lifetime, he stops.

He stops and he can feel the fear wash over him, his skin feels clammy, his neck is covered in cold sweat and he doesn't want to look.

(But he doesn't have a choice, does he?)

His eyes open.

The boy smiles and it's strange. He feels like he should know him, but he doesn't. His eyes stay locked to his and the longer he stares, the dizzier he feels. He wants to get away from him, seeing him makes him itch all over.

There's some primal animal clawing at his chest. He feels blood welling in wounds that will never be there. He's choking, drowning on it. fuck. fuck. fuck. fuck.

Izuku lunges and wraps his hands around the other boys neck, both of them fall to the ground, his hands push and blood begins to stain his hands. Whose blood is it? He doesn't care but. the. boy. doesn't. stop. smiling.

Then he's gone.

Izuku is on his knees and the mirror is broken and there is blood dripping from his fingers, but hasn't it always?

-------------

The world finally stopped spinning for Izuku as his consciousness takes the wheel, and it hurts. He may be able to heal any wound in seconds but the pain stays, his muscles burn from the stress, his throat feels as if someone had made him drink lava and the pounding headache he has is not helping. He was sitting on the floor, his back laid against a cold rock, his hero suit barely holding on as the top only covered half of his chest, thankfully, his pants were mostly intact.

Taking in his surroundings, he realized that he was in the mountain zone, the muddy puddle that was his mind told him that All For One had brought him here after the fight ended, but one question remained, why was it so quiet?

He couldn’t hear the sounds of fighting around him, was it over? If so, for how long had he been out?

“Izuku” It was second, Izuku let out a groan as he looked at the ghosts face, he probably looked like shit. “The others are trying to take care of your copy, lock it up even deeper than before, but… we’re not sure it’ll work” Izuku just nodded. Silence fell between the two, the vestige thought that the boy had fallen asleep before they spoke.

“It’s hard you know” they began, his voice hoarse “I hate doing it, letting them take control I mean, but I just get so… angry ” the last part came covered in more venom than he had wanted “It happens so fast that when I realize it, it's already too late”

“and I can feel them” his words could not express the amount of disgust that threatened to make his stomach flip “all those quirks, the old and new ones, I can feel them crawl under my skin, like insects that are trying to find a way out even if it means tearing me to shreds” 

“But the worst thing is… how exhilarating it is” he could feel thousands of tiny hands scratching at the back of his brain “Everytime I took a new quirk, I felt complete, I felt better than I have in years and it made me think of the millions of possibilities it offered me” countless whispers flowing into his ears as if the wind itself was speaking to him.

He hated it.

He hated how much they sounded like him.

Second couldn’t say anything, he didn’t understand how Izuku felt, he and the other users were nothing more than spectators to this, and they knew this, their time in this story had ended a long time ago and so too should it have for the small boy.

“Finally found you lad!” a new voice drew their attention as they saw Snipe walk over to Midoriya and knelt beside him “You had us all worried there for a minute”

“Snipe-sensei, what happened? Is everyone okay? what about the villains, did they-” Snipe let out a tired chuckled “Calm down lad, everyone is safe, you were the last one we had to find and the villains… we’ve arrested the ones we could” Izuku didn’t need to hear the rest.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he slumped further, all that mattered was that his friends were safe “That’s great…Can… can we go home now?” he whispered and it almost sounded like a plea.

Snipe nodded as he helped the youth stand up “Yeah lad, we’ll get you home”

--------------------

And just like that, the USJ came to a close, except this time around, the teachers and All Might had arrived too late, only able to pick up the scraps that Midoriya had left for them. The students of class 1-A had come mostly unscathe, but the same could not be said for their mental health, the battlefield this time around had become much more gruesome. The amount of black bags that were spread along the ground almost looked like it had no end.

The metallic smell of blood stung their noses and twisted their stomachs as they were all escorted out of the building. Himiko was relieved when she saw her brother, weak but unharmed, and almost brought him to the ground when she hugged him. Since there were no major injuries, the students were allowed to go back to their dorms to rest.

Izuku wished to do nothing more than to rest and leave this day behind.

But things were never so easy.

A sharp pain shot through his spine making his mind go blank for a second making him fall to the ground, it felt as if someone had inserted a burning steel rod into his spine, it was as if it had connected to all of his nerves, the pain ate away at whatever resistances he had as he could only gasp for air on the ground. It was eating away his body and mind, leaving in exchange a white void of burning agony.

With one final jolt of pain that left him grasping at air, the pain subsided until leaving, almost as if it had never been there to begin with. Izuku stayed on the ground taking greedy gulps of air as his heart beat slowed down, the cold sweat that covered him worked as a reminder that he wasn’t burning, but just what the hell had happened?

Carefully, he got back up to his feet using the wall to stabilize himself, he wobbled to the bathroom in his room, where the only mirror he had was, did he have something stuck in there from the fight? No it couldn’t be, if he did then one of the paramedics that looked him over should have noticed.

His feet faltered when he saw himself in the mirror.

He remembered the night he struck down Stain.

His face was pale and clammy, the eye bags under his eyes stood out even more but what worried him the most was his hair. The once invisible strands of white had now multiplied and could actually be seen as small streaks through his hair, but it wasn’t bad enough that he couldn’t just dye it green.

He slowly pulled at his sweat stained shirt, the pit in his stomach only growing as he heard the soft gasps from his ghostly companions, taking a deep breath he put the shirt aside and ignored the weight of the stares of the other users. He stood in front of the mirror, his heart beating wildly as he turned his back to it.

A deep breath.

He turned to look.

His heart stopped.

Right in the middle of his back, the one thing he had hoped to never see, as if his skin had been replaced by glass a black scar-like crack that looked like a small spider web stood out on his body.

Hands trembling, cold sweat covering his face again, he turned to look at the person with the most conflicted expression, Hikage, the fourth user, looked at Izuku with pity and sadness.

----------------

“We’ve done everything we could, the results were the same” Tsukauchi fiddled with his hat as he gave the two pro heroes the bad news “their quirks were taken”

All Might didn’t answer as he let a dark shadow cover his face, his fist clenching hard enough to turn his knuckles white, Aizawa only turned to look outside the window, the bandages on his leg itched but the doctors told him to not touched it, it was a miracle his leg hadn’t disintegrated when Shigaraki, the name Remnant had called the villain, grabbed it.

“It doesn’t make sense” Aizawa began “You said All For One was more than four hundred years old, and Remnant is at best 17, so how the hell could he have his quirk?” the detective and number one hero had to agree, in the timeline they had created it didn’t make sense.

“It could be… their kid? a clone maybe?” they were pulling at straws, those theories sounded insane. “It doesn’t matter who they are, but their actions at the USJ make things… more complicated” All Might stated “Are they on our side or not? They somehow infiltrated into the USJ without any of us noticing but when the attack happened, they seemed to only focus on the villains and ignored the kids but, by what Aizawa learned from their small exchange, it seems to be because of a grudge”

Aizawa nodded, every time Remnant came into the picture it was as if they were looking at a puzzle with missing pieces, they couldn’t make heads or tails of the vigilante (villain? hero?) “For now, we should treat them as a dangerous individual, and if the day comes where they get in our way, then we should not hesitate to eliminate them” All Might said as he got of his seat, he patted his yellow suit and walked to the exit of the room only to stop before closing the door behind him “You said that Himiko Midoriya helped you even when she could have gotten hurt, right?”

“Yeah?” is all Aizawa could answer as he looked at All Mights small back, the blonde man only brushed some of his hair still not looking at any of them.

“What splendid spirit, maybe I should talk to her one of these days” with that, the symbol of peace left.

------------

In a dimly lit bar hidden deep inside the city, a small ball of smoke formed in the air before an agitated and tired Shigariki crawled through it “Our underlings were torn apart, the kids were strong too and our Nome was done in by that damned Glitch…” Kurogiri helped the still trembling young adult sit on one of the cushy red seats of the bar “It was a complete loss for us…”

“We didn’t even manage to lure All Might to us…” Shigaraki could only grind his teeth as he heard the soft click of the computer that turned on in another corner of the room. Silence covered the room as they waited for something to happen, finally, a voice came through the speakers of the monitor “It seems like things got out of our hands”

That was an understatement, if Eraserhead had not intervened, Shigaraki would be long dead by now “What of our dear Nomu, they must have at least caused some damage, I loaded them with enough power to rival All Might” Shigaraki only grimaced as he remembered how Nomu was swatted to the side as if they were a fly “Our damage dealer was torn to shreds by that Glitch”

“To shreds you say, and by some… Glitch, you called them? So an unexpected variable has joined, this has changed thing quite a lot” Shigaraki looked at the blank monitor, Sensei, even at the bad news, always sounded amused and right now, it was pissing him off but he had something else in his mind, something bigger that was biting at his confidence.

“Sensei” He began “The one who ruined it all, Glitch, there is something else about them I need to tell you” The computer didn’t answer, so he continued “They… they can do the same thing as you”

“Same thing?”

“I watched them, when they jumped on one of the other villains like some kind of animal but then… I watched as they stole their quirks only to use them against the others” Shigaraki gulped as he waited for an answer. A heavy silence fell over them, the tension making it hard to breathe.

“They… took their quirks?” That was the first time Shigaraki had heard Sensei’s voice missing any kind of amusement, genuine confusion colored their voice and Shigaraki couldn’t be more scared.

For a minute, no one dared speak or move, wild variables had appeared before but Sensei always found a way to take care of them but now, he couldn’t help but feel like they were out of their depth “I… Don’t worry about it for now Shigaraki, stick to the plan while I… take care of this small problem” Sensei sounded serious which only managed to assure Shigaraki that this was much bigger than him so he just solemnly nodded as he watched the computer turn off.

Chapter Text

For a minute, Izuku did not speak.

He couldn’t bring out the words.

All energy had left him as the meaning of those marks dawned on him.

“Hey, quick question, what is that on his back?” his father asked, since his body was meant to hold multiple quirks, no matter the amount, he had never experienced something like this.

“Those…” Yoichi began still looking at the unresponsive Izuku “Those are a sign that the quirk has already become too much for his body to bear”

Hisashi’s eyes widened as he quickly understood “You mean he is dying!? But how!? He was fine until now, what happened!?”

“What do you think happened!?” Nana snapped at him as she turned to look at the ex-villain with a storm of anger and sadness in her eyes “Guess! I dare you to guess!” she snarled at him.

It took him a few seconds but when the answer came to him, a shadow fell over his face as his voice shook “It’s me”

“Good job!” Nana gave him a few mocking claps “You’re not as stupid as you seem”

“Nana stop” Banjo tried to calm her down “None of us knew this would happen”

“And what!? This bastard has ruined all of our lives, and look” she pointed at Izuku “Even in death he is still causing us trouble!” she sharply turned to look at Hisashi once more, eyes filled with anger “I say we lock him up with the rouge vestige and let them have a go at-”

“ Stop! ” 

Izuku’s sudden outburst made everyone flinch “just… stop”

Everyone went quiet as Izuku took deep breaths, his hands went through his green curls, the roots completely white at this point, as he tried to calm down.

“I need… I need to be alone”

“Izuku-”

“ Please ” the boy pleaded.

At that, they couldn’t say no, they slowly disappeared leaving the young greenette alone in his room.

With trembling legs, Izuku began to walk towards his door and before he knew it he had sat down on the sofa in the living room of the dorms, a loose shirt and hoodie covering his body.

For a while, he just stared at his hands.

His body had reached the limit, and now he was dying.

It just didn’t seem real.

The entire time for both of his lives he has been fighting enemy after enemy and coming out on top that for a moment, he had completely forgotten just how fragile he really was. That he was just a human.

He had fought villains with enough strength to break mountains and yet, he didn’t have anything that could help him escape the inevitability of death.

A deep sigh escaped from his lips. How long had it been since he had felt this powerless?

With a blink, his vision was suddenly filled with smoke and rubble, ashes filling his lungs as he and his friends moved in a group across the destroyed city, staying in the shadows to avoid being seen by any flying nomu.

The atmosphere around them was heavy since only a few days before they had lost Iida to a wave of villains that had ambushed them and Izuku had yet to stop blaming himself.

A thousand different what-if’s ran through his head. What if he had been faster? What if he had gone with them? What if he had answered the distress call faster?

But he knew that no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t change the past.

!!!

Suddenly danger sense activated, warning him from something coming from their left. Thinking quickly, Izuku wrapped his team with black whip and jumped up pulling them all with him just in time to avoid the nomu that came bursting through the wall where they had stood.

The purple beast roared as it noticed it had missed its target, before looking around to try and find them. Once they had been found by one, the best course of action was to kill it since it would chase them until they dropped dead.

Looking closely at the beast, Izuku tried to guess what quirks it had only to notice the strange lumps of metal that covered some parts of its body. Did it have some type of metal quirk?

Finally landing on the ground, Izuku began to issue orders to his teammates before the nomu turned to them with an ugly grin that sent shivers down their backs. This time, Izuku got a better look at the monster and realized that the lumps of metal were actually some type of armor fused to its skin.

Brrrmm! Brrrrmm!

The sudden sound of engines made his blood run cold, he would recognize them anywhere.

And then it all made sense.

The nomu rushed forward at incredible speeds as the engines in its legs roared to life, the heroes behind the greenette screamed in surprise and fear, and it answered.

“Midorrrrriiya!!!”

Even if it sounded like it came from under the water, it was painfully familiar to him.

And Izuku saw red.

When his mind finally came back to him, he stood above a massive corpse, the legs of it ripped off its body and thrown aside like thrash and in his hand he tightly gripped a broken bloody exhaust pipe.

Izuku shook his head as he pushed away the memory. That had been his first encounter with one of his friends turned into nomus and it had been one of the worst days of his life.

It was no secret that he had made notes on his friends' strengths and weaknesses, but they had been to help them grow and become better and yet… using his knowledge to take them down like that made him sick.

“Couldn’t sleep?” a sudden voice makes him jump and turn to look at the equally surprised Shinsou.

“Fuck, Shinsou were you trying to give me a heart attack?” Midoriya asked as he placed a hand over his chest, the purple haired boy scratched the back of his head while he walked closer.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean too, I just wanted a midnight snack but, guess you already beat me to it” silence fell between the two boys as the twoo looked at eachother, Shinsou could feel his hands begin to sweat as Izuku unblinkingly stared at him, slowly he turned around to the kitchen ready to grab anything and leave.

But…

“What if… what if someone told you that you didn’t have long to live?”

The question made him freeze on the spot. In the situation they were in, someone could interpret it as some kind of threat, but there was no malice in his trembling voice. When he turned around, he saw the greenette with his head hung low.

Through the few weeks they had been together, Izuku had exuded a kind of reassuring aura, standing atop the powerhouses of the class, getting the best grades and even surviving alone the USJ incident.

He seemed invincible.

But now, sitting right in front of him, was a scared, lonely boy just like him.

Swallowing his nerves, Shinsou walked forward and sat next to him on the couch, Izuku didn’t look at him.

The question was… heavy, to say the least, but after what they went through it was normal for all of them to think about. So, what was his answer?

“You know, when I was younger, I thought that what everyone said about me was right,” he began “They all talked about me as if they already knew what I was going to become, and you know what I did? I believed them.” Shinsou cringed at the memories of his past, he really wasn’t expecting to talk to anyone about this in UA, but Izuku had decided to be vulnerable with him so it was only natural that he gave some of that trust back too.

“My quirk, as you already know, allows me to control anyone that answers to me and well… brainwashing isn’t a power that heroes usually have, so they went with the next best thing, a villain” Izuku flinched a little at the sudden edge Shinsou’s voice took but he kept listening “Everyone thought that just because I had a villainous quirk I would grow to be a bad person, another one of the monsters under the bed, but I didn’t want to believe them.”

“For a while I was stuck in a world where everyone saw me as nothing more than a ticking time bomb, but…” A soft smile came onto his face as his voice softened “Then I met someone”

Izuku froze, he had a feeling that he knew where this was going.

“I can’t go into the specifics since I promised that I wouldn’t tattle on them but back then, they were my only friend, they came to visit me and talk to me, they made me feel better, less… alone.”

“Since the day I met them, it was as if they had made a hole in the cell that had held me captive for so long, showed me the light of a world I had never imagined and since then, I made myself a promise…” Shinsou softly placed a hand over Izuku’s shoulder “I promised myself that I would not waste the chance they gave me and that I would live the life I wanted to have, one that would leave me with no regrets.”

With a shy chuckle, he took his hand back and placed it on his lap again “I know that sounds cliche but I don’t think I could ever live with myself if I had stayed bound by the expectations of all those people, so I want to live everyday to the fullest to the very end.”

With his little speech finished, silence fell between them. The only difference was that instead, the two felt comfortable with each other, having opened their hearts, even if just a little, to one another.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku stood up, the knot in his stomach remained but… it was much looser than before.

“Thank you, really, Shinsou, it means a lot” Izuku said, his words soft but they had regained the confidence they once held “You also helped me take a decision on something important”

Shinsou couldn’t see the greenettes face but he could hear the smile that was on his face from his words and it made him feel warm, he had been able to help him.

As they walked back to their own rooms, Izuku made sure to wipe away the tear as silently as possible.

---------------

Himiko yawned as she walked the halls of UA, sleep has been rough for her ever since the USJ happened and it didn’t just affect her, the entire class has been in low spirits ever since the attack but she could see how they were still trying to do their best, even more so her brother.

He had been alone in the attack after being scattered by the villains, so it was a surprise how he was trying his best for the class as their class president although it made her worry, and the strange white streaks in his hair didn’t help make her feel better.

“Himiko? are you okay?” Kendo’s voice snapped her out of her own thoughts, having realized that she had been spacing out for a while “Do you want to go back to the dorms?” Aside from her worried expression, she could also feel her hand softly but reassuringly holding her own and she couldn’t help the sudden rush of heat that covered her face.

“Y-Yeah! Sorry, I was just thinking about something” She quickly lied and turned to look away trying to hide her sudden blush. From the beginning of the year the martial arts girl started acting like an older sister to the group but it was after the attack that Tenko suddenly caught her attention, they had begun to talk more to each other, mostly because Himiko was worried that she was going to burn herself out. It started as small talks over tea to help her relax only to realize that they had a few common interests, that soon turned to sitting together at lunch and they had even thought about going out with the other girls (she totally didn’t feel sad about not being alone) and her legs didn’t turn to jelly when she saw her well-toned abdomen, not one bit.

“You are spacing out again Himiko” 

“Sorry!”

“It’s okay, but are you sure that you don’t want to go back?” The concern was still there but the green haired girl could only focus on the fond smile she gave her.

“Yeah, I swear I’m fine!” Himiko reassured her while doing her best to slow her rapidly beating heart.

“Oh good” A sudden tired voice caught their attention and they soon spotted the black figure walking towards them, it was Aizawa “Himiko, I need to talk to you about some points in the essay that you gave me, do you have time to talk about it?”

The sudden question caught her off guard but it was nothing more than a simple talk to her teacher so she didn’t see anything wrong with going with him. She waved goodbye to Kendo as she followed her teacher through the halls, passing by a few other classrooms and students.

“Are you okay, Mister Aizawa?” Himiko asked once again, making her teacher sigh.

“For the fifth time, yes Himiko, I only received  a few small wounds from the attack, nothing life threatening” He reassured her. He could understand why she was so worried about his well-being, she was one of the few that saw his sorry state after the rogue vigilante attacked him.

Not long after did they reach their destination as Aizawa opened the door and walked in and Himiko followed only to freeze in place when she saw the extra figure in the room.

Sitting on the couch that looked comically small for his hulking figure, was All Might “Ah! The young Midoriya, good to see you!”

“G-Good to see you too, sir!” She answered, really confused at the situation and it didn’t help that Aizawa just went and sat down next to the yellow suit hero and pointed at the other couch in front of them.

Slowly, she followed instructions and sat on the couch opposite of them as she nervously put her hands together.

“How have you been, young one? I hope that you and your peers are okay, including your brother! I know that with everything that happened, things can be… tough” an expression of guilt took the number one hero’s place before quickly changing back to the usual big smile “But I promise you that we are all doing our best to get to the bottom of the problem.”

“T-thank you” she answered, still confused about the situation while glancing at the black dressed hero.

“To explain, there was nothing wrong with your essay, that was just a lie” Aizawa revealed “We actually needed to talk to you in private, well mostly All Might did.”

“With… With me? about what?” She asked, still very lost in the situation.

“Himiko Midoriya” All Might suddenly spoke with complete seriousness making her sit straight and sweat at the pressure that engulfed the room “What we are about to tell you is a secret that you must keep with yourself all the way to the grave, do you understand?”

“Y-yes…” she squeaked “But… Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I have seen what you are capable of, you managed to get into this academy with your mind and power alone, even if it wasn’t the best suited for battle, you managed to gain your spot in this academy, not only that, but when the USJ happened you showed great teamwork with your classmates and a great heroic spirit that didn’t falter at the face of great danger. That why…” with a sudden pause, All Might took a deep breath “ I wish to make you my successor ”

Chapter Text

Izuku raised his arms as he stretched after a few hours of manual labor although he did enjoy it, it was an easy way to get out of his own head and he needed that now more than anything.

“Once again, thank you for your help Yaoyorozu but you didn’t need to stay and help me” the white and green haired boy said turning to look at black haired girl that was currently helping him put away the brooms they had used, she gave him a kind smile, one that was already leaps and bounds different than the overly formal one she used to have.

“It’s alright Izuku, it's my job as the vice representative to help you out and you have been doing a lot so I just want to help ease the burden” slightly flinching at her words, Izuku turned away as to not let her see his guilty expression and at this, she just let out a sigh “Just know that whatever you’re going through, it doesn’t have to be alone, whether you like it or not, you are part of our class and that means that you are our friend and that we care about you”

It was strange, Izuku already knew that, he had already experienced all of that, their care, their friendship, their bond and yet… a wide genuine smile bloomed on his face as he couldn’t help the heat that covered his cheeks as he watched her leave.

“I’m glad to see that you are feeling better” Hikage’s ghost appeared next to him “You have been handling yourself much better than I did” A shudder crawled up Izuku’s back as the cracks in his back came back to his mind.

“Oh not at all” the boy admitted “I’ve mostly been distracting myself with other things just to not think about it, I guess I’m just not ready to face my own mortality just yet”

“But that doesn’t mean that I have been doing nothing” grabbing his backpack and leaving the classroom, he pulls out one of his many notebooks and flips it to a page with multiple bullet points, some have been scratched out already “Considering that I am already running on borrowed time I feel like this has also given me a step in the right direction in our extra vestige problem”

“What do you mean by that?” Fourth asked.

“Simple, what has been their one and only driving force since the very start?”

“Killing All For One”

“And what would happen when their only tool, A.K.A me, to take their revenge begins to break?”

It took a few seconds but the ghost understood quickly “They would become desperate” Correct “But isn’t that also dangerous? We have no clue as to what they might try now that they are being driven into a corner”

“You are also right but that’s why we need to strike while the iron is hot” Izuku reassured him “It may be risky but if I say the right things, I might be able to get them to come to our side for good”

Fourth nodded “That would be for the best but, what would we do after that?”

“Well, if everything is still going like last time then that means that soon the sports festival will start, when that starts I’ll need to check if the timeline doesn’t try to, I dunno, fix itself and still try to hurt Iida’s brother, after that…” A shadow fell over his eyes as the image of the mad doctor villain flashed in his mind “I’ll take Eri out of Overhaul’s claws”

“And if everything goes well, we’ll have a clean shot at All For One” Fourth finished with a satisfied smile.

“All in one fell swoop” Izuku agreed, closing the notebook and putting it back in his bag.

“That mind of yours can be quite scary when it wants to be”

“I’ll take that as a compliment”

Bzzz Bzzz

A muffled buzz suddenly startles Izuku as he scrambles to get his phone out of his backpack only to frown at the strange message.

Msg from “Leech”:

Hey Izuku, can you come home? I mean, our home with Mom, something really serious came up and I need to talk to the two of you about it, please hurry.

Izuku blinked a few times as he reread the message a few times, had something happened? He was sure that nothing happened between the USJ and the festival, so what did Himiko want to talk about?

“I’m not sure about this” Fourth frowned “A sudden change like this has never been a good sign”

“I know but I can’t just say no to her, and it seems like she wants to bring Mom into this too which only makes me more nervous” Izuku admits before turning to the gates and beginning his trip to his mother’s home.

-----------

Taking a deep breath Izuku turned the extra key his mother had given him and opened the door.

“Mom, Himiko, I’m here, what hap- HUH!?” Only to freeze on the entrance feeling like his lungs had lost all of the air in them because of the sight in front of him.

He had expected a lot of the situation. Maybe some blood, possibly a fire, hell, even a dead body. What he was not expecting was the skeleton of a man wearing an ugly yellow suit happily talking to his mother and sister.

All Might was in his home drinking a cup of tea.

Why was he here?

This is different, too different.

An avalanche of thoughts assaulted the boy as he stood frozen in shock, confusing and utter fear.

Why was All Might in his home? Was this what Himiko wanted to talk about? If it is then why do they look so happy?

Oh shit, did he figure him out?

Toshinori isn’t dumb, did he come to arest him? But why in front of his family? Did he want to make a show of it? No, he isn’t that cruel and if he did figure out his identity and connections he would have missed the perfect chance back at UA with all the other heroes.

Why was he in his house!?!?

“Izuku, honey, are you not going to say hello?” his mother’s voice snapped him out of his trance and made him realize that he had been standing there without moving for a long time now.

“I-I, yes, sorry” He stumbled over his words as he tried to contain his nerves while he walked closer to the table in a stiff walk “Welcome to our home, can I ask what brings you here today?”

“Oh there’s no need to be so formal to me Young one, I’m the one imposing on your home, but I am here to talk about some serious matters on behalf of your sister” Izuku whipped around hard enough to almost give himself whiplash but enough to make his family flinch.

“Uh yeah, I guess that’s my signal” His sister began as he took a seat and kept staring at her with wide eyes “Well, Mr. Toshinori has decided to give me an incredible offer and he originally wanted to keep it a secret but…” Himiko than lowers her head “I couldn't bring myself to hide it from you… the both of you have done so much for me that I can't even begin to say, you gave me a chance at a life I had never imagined and have taken care of me as if I truly was your own flesh and blood” Small sobs began to shake the small girls body as she brought her hands to try and wipe away the tears.

All Might had a soft and warm smile on his face as he placed down his cup “Young Himiko told me what you have done for her and I can’t say just how happy I am to know that such caring people still exist and it has helped me see that all of you truly care about each other and that is why I accepted her decision of telling the both of you”

The atmosphere was light and warm as praises were given to mother and son, the older woman was already beginning to cry as tears formed in the corners of her eyes, on the other hand…

A cold pit had formed in Izuku’s stomach, a hole that only seemed to get bigger as the more words he heard.

This couldn't be happening…

This had to be a nightmare…

Izuku began to feel as he lost touch with himself as the conversation continued without him, he felt his consciousness slip into his own memories as he watched his sister compose herself.

Flashes of a life that will never be flashed in his eyes.

The warm moments he spent with his mentor, the spikes of adrenaline as he won a fight by the skin of his teeth, the satisfaction as he climbed another wall in his path.

But all bright skies come with their rainy days.

The white hot pain of his broken limbs that threatened to make him go unconscious, the feeling of alienation from his peers as he was left behind, the immense weight of the world on his little shoulders, the innumerable amounts of life and death fights he found himself daily and…

A full body shiver ran through him as his skin began to crack.

A sudden gasp made him come to his senses and he could see that Toshinori had gone from his skeleton to the one that showed he was the number one hero, his mother had her hands covering her mouth at the shock.

“So I ask of you, please let me make her my descendant”

Izuku still didn’t move but he glanced at his mother and he felt his stomach drop as her eyes began to soften and she fought the worry in her face before taking a deep breath and relaxing before saying

“No.”

Silence.

Izuku’s cold voice made everyone present turn to look at him with shock.

“Young Midoriya…”

“I-Izuku!”

“Sweetie…”

“No” He repeated himself, hands tightly gripping at the couch “You said it yourself All Might, we care about each other and I want the best for my family but what you are offering is nothing short than asking for her funeral”

“Izuku!” Himiko exclaimed, surprised at the sudden change in her brother.

“Young Midoriya, I understand your concern but I promise you that I’ll do my best to protect her-” 

“Can you really!?” Izuku bit back “Back at the USJ, those villains said they were here for you and yet you never appeared until the very end, can you really promise that you can protect her when you couldn’t even protect us?”

All Might didn’t answer. He couldn’t and Izuku knew that.

“Izuku! What is going on with you!?” His sister asked, anger now mixed with shock before she went around, took a hold of his arm and pulled him up the stairs.

Pushing him into their old room she slammed the door and turned to look at him with a completely baffled expression with red cheeks, he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.

“What is wrong with you!?” she exclaimed while glaring at him “This- This isn’t your usual you, I thought you would be happy for me!”

“Happy? You want me to be happy to watch you throw your life away like this?” Izuku answered back, just as angry, but he didn’t know why.

Was it that he was jealous of losing his mentor to her? Was he truly worried about her safety? or…

Was he being greedy? Was the light of that quirk just too tempting to leave to anyone else but him?

”I’m not throwing my life away! This could do so much for us, for me!” Her hands began to shake. “It’s a chance that I will never get if I let go, so why do you want to stop me!?”

“I’m trying to keep you safe!” His anger spiked.

“Safe!? How do you even know that I’m going to be in danger!?” She exclaimed, waiting for an answer.

But he couldn’t give her one.

She wouldn’t understand what he knew, no one could carry that burden, no one but him.

“I- I just do alright!” he told her but his flimsy excuse did nothing but stir her anger even more.

“You just do!? That’s bullshit!” anger poured out of her as she took a step forward and pushed him “All you want to do is keep me locked up!”

Another shiver, another crack.

“You just don’t get it!” Izuku burned with anger as he continued the screaming match and in a moment of fury he grabbed her wrist with enough force to make her flinch in pain “ What would you know!? You are just a kid! ”

In his anger, Izuku could barely notice the way his voice changed to one more gravelly than his but he did see when the figure of his sister changed to that of a familiar boy with long white hair that covered one of his green eyes as he glared at him with anger, behind him stood a large metal door slightly open revealing a dark abyss.

A vault.

The sudden change startled him enough to let go and step back but just as quickly as it came, the visage was gone and his sister stood in their place while holding their wrist and looking at them with anger and… fear .

Before Izuku could get a word out, she turned around and ran out of the room leaving him alone in the now dark room.

Izuku didn’t move but he stared down at his empty hand, the one he had used to grab her wrist, as he thought back to the change.

He could already guess what that was, a memory, just not one of his but…

In the distance, he could hear the muffled voices of his mother and All Might only to be followed by hurried footsteps that got closer to the door every second that went by.

Inko burst into the room, eyes wide in panic as she looked around the room only to find an empty room with an open window.

Izuku was already deep into the city covered in red lightning as he jumped over buildings wordless with rage, his scarlet red eyes scanning the buildings looking for one place in mind.

The one place where he could easily deal with his anger.

The Shie Hassaikai.

Chapter Text

For the yakuza members, this was no different than any other night patrol looking for any heroes, villains or vigilantes that may try, and fail, to mess with them.

A man with short black hair and patchy beard yawned as he and his other two companions walked through the streets “Can’t believe that we have to do this shit every night” he grumbled as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and placed one of them on his lips before using a snap of his fingers to lit it.

At his side, a woman with a bob of gray hair, rolled her eyes before making a small wave of her hand to push away the smoke with a small gust of wind “Yeah, it sucks but what would you prefer? Talk to the boss about changing your work?” The black haired man didn’t speak but answered her question with a glare.

“Will you two just shut up?” Their third member, a red haired man that placed their stone like hands over their ears “It’s your endless bickering that make this a living hell”

The trio of goons continued their patrol in silence as they looked at the empty and sleeping city, the only noise that could be heard aside from their footsteps was the howl of the wind as it dragged trash along the streets.

Clank

A sudden noise that reverberated across the sky caught their attention, something close to metal hitting metal and it came from an alley just a few steps away from them, they exchanged looks before the red head let out a breath “It’s probably just some dumb cat so stay here” The other two didn’t argue with him as they watched him walk into the dark space.

A minute passed.

Then another…

and another…

When five minutes had passed, the two goons looked at eachother confused, the woman was the first to speak “The fuck is taking him so long?” the man shrugged before stepping forward and looking down the alley only to drop his cigar in confusion “What the…”

“What? What is it?” the woman moved to his side only to raise an eyebrow at what she saw.

An empty alley, the only things of note were the two trash cans that were there, one with its lid on the floor.

“Where the fuck did he go?” The man asked as he walked in, followed closely by his female companion “That idiot has rocks for hands, how did he just disappear without making a noise?”

She walked further down the alley looking for any sign of her coworker only to find nothing. It was frustrating and… scary, people don’t just simply disappear, something, or someone, had to have done something to him.

That’s when a strong gust of wind passed behind her, it felt too sudden and unnatural in a night that until now had been quiet and unchanging, so she turned and a chill ran down her spine as she saw the empty alley.

Except for the still lit cigar burning on the floor.

Her eyes darted around the scene and once again found no traces of anyone other than herself but she couldn’t help the sudden dread that began to twist her insides, hands shaking by her sides, she ran to the entrance of the alley and looked around only for her throat to go dry when she saw nothing.

That’s when it happened.

The soft sound of steps on concrete accompanied by the sound of dragging something. She turned to where she heard the sound coming, arms raised as the wind began to rush around her and cold sweat dripped down her back.

As the footsteps came closer, the first thing she saw were eyes. Tiny scarlet dots surrounded by a toxic green that seemed to shine with the moon, as they finally walked into view, her blood ran cold.

They were nothing more than a teen, barely a threat, or at least that’s how they should be if it wasn’t for the fact that in their hands they were dragging behind them her unconscious companions, their fingers digging into their heads with enough strength to begin dripping blood.

“You little shit…” she wanted to sound intimidating but the way his eyes unblinkingly stared at her and his stoic expression didn’t even change, her heart start to race “Let them go and I won’t break your-”

Her threat was cut short by the sickening crunch and quelch of bone and meat, now with a pale face and wide trembling eyes she looked down at the ground and saw the headless bodies of her companions and the red hands of the boy.

Now, fully shaking, she looked back at the boy who now sported a mad cheshire grin, the edges of which contorted their face in a terrifying way.

The rushing gusts of air disappeared around her as fear took control and her legs gave out under her, with her heart beating out of her chest she could only watch as the boy raised his arm, fresh blood dripping off his fingers, as red sparks began to jump off of him.

Bringing up any remaining strength and throwing away any remaining pride she had, she forced herself to try and drag herself away from the boy but the moment she felt his hand grab the back of her head, she knew it was too late.

Nothing but a stain on the ground remained of her.

-----------

In the main base of the Shie Hassaikai, subordinates moved busily, some carrying boxes, other large stacks of papers, many wouldn’t believe the amount of work that was needed to keep a gang running.

Only two people were not moving and only watched the others work like ants, they were two of the fearsome ‘Eight Bullets’. The drunkard Deidoro Sakaki and Joi Irinaka alias ‘Mimic’.

They were both making sure their subordinates were working correctly, although Deidoro was spending most of his time drinking, leaving most of the work to Joi in their small puppet.

Knock knock

The entire base froze and turned to the main door, a thick metal gate, as someone had just… knocked on it.

A deep pressure was felt by everyone as they didn’t move, the only ones that seemed unaffected were the two Bullets, Deidoro glanced to the puppet on his side which simply gave him a nod, the drunkard began pulling a few knives out of his clothes as he slowly approached the door.

“Knock knock, Pizza delivery!”

The gate and most of the wall, alongside Deidoro, exploded to pieces as Izuku punched through it, freely walking in he looked around the base with a smile “Nice place you got here” looking at everyone in the room his smile suddenly became sharper and a wild glint danced in his red and green eyes “Too bad this will be the last place you’ll ever see!”

Every grunt dropped what they were doing and ran at Midoriya whose smile never faltered even at the wave of incoming attacks.

With a simple wave of his hand an ocean of blue flames consumed the frontline of thugs but, either too dumb or too brave, the rest did not stop as they continued their charge.

Smiling even wider, Izuku let blackwhip out as it quickly wrapped around his arms and turned into the form of a gauntlet as he dashed forward, his body already covered in red electricity.

Any kind of common sense left the boy as he became the center of the mosh pit, swinging his fist recklessly as he ripped and teared the villains apart with his bare hands, of course he was also here to sate his appetite.

Grabbing a villain by the head, he pushed All For One into them as they searched them for their quirk, red lines appearing around the part where he had taken hold as the villain screamed in agony and when he was empty, Izuku turned around and used the body as a weapon as he slammed the others.

But these were just the appetizers, slowly he began to move through the waves to where his first target stood, it was faint but he could still see the light inside that doll.

Having had enough of the flies around him, his blackwhipe made gauntlets disappeared as his arms began to change, something he remembered from his fight with Shigaraki as All For One began to develop inside him.

The skin and muscles in his arms began to grow at unbelievable speeds becoming a mass of arms and fingers that he used to push, grab and crush, and just to finish it off, his throat began to shine as he let out a fatal breath of fire around him leaving nothing but ashes.

Joi, on seeing this display of absolute power, understood that he couldn’t beat the boy, at least not with his current strength. With no doubt in his mind he pulled out a syringe and stabbed it into the doll and pushed its purpled contents into himself.

Izuku watched with interest as Joi injected himself with Trigger, looking as the small light inside him seemed to shake as it slowly took a purplish tone. Izuku had not been present when it happened last time but he had heard records of others as how the drug affected the power of his quirk so he was excited to see if he could make things more interesting for him.

Joi burst out of the doll panting as his veins popped out, stumbling around he couldn’t get a hold of himself as he felt his instincts take hold and fell towards one of the walls and phased into it.

Izuku watched the silhouette of a man move in the walls as a boisterous laugh came from all around him “You are strong brat, I’ll give you that!” the wall around him began to shake and move as if an earthquake was happening “But that ends here!”

Simply answering his threat with a smile, Izuku raised his arm and flicked his finger, the force of the compressed air blowing a hole on the walls but Joi’s laugh only got louder “I’m not bound to a single object now! The entire facility and its tunnels are me!”

“Then I guess that just means…” Even more sparks appeared around him as his veins glowed a bright red and his skin bubbled before growing into an extra pair of arms before the four of them were enveloped by blackwhip “I just have to tear this place apart until I find you!”

Joi couldn’t help the chill that rushed up his spine at hearing the excitement in the kids voice as he realized that this was nothing but a game for him.

That’s how their chase of cat and mouse began, with Joi trying to crush Midoriya with wall only for the white haired boy to break through them as he chased after him, even if he shouldn't know where he was the kid was perfectly behind his tail, unfortunately for him Izuku had already used Search on him and he could perfectly pinpoint his location.

With no options left Joi decided to move a room where some of his other Bullets were into the boy's path to either distract him or kill him and who better than their spear and shield combo.

The walls around Izuku shifted once again and his attention shifted from Joi to the sudden pair that were pushed in front of him, both looking equally confused.

Hekiji,a tall, slim man looked around only to notice the young boy that looked at them with curiosity and it would seem like Kendo, who looked the complete opposite of Hekiji, a towering, muscular man, had also taken notice.

“Just what the hell is happening?” Kendo looked down at the young boy as he asked no one but what they didn’t expect was to actually get an answer.

“That little bastard broke into the base and already killed thousands of our goons and a Bullet, so make sure to turn him into a stain on the wall!!” As they listened to the agitated voice of Joi, the spear and shield duo couldn’t help but think of this as nothing more than an exaggeration even if his appearance was weird with four arms and those red and black gauntlets on them.

“If they lost a kid like this, then that just means they were weak” Kendo mocked his fallen comrades as he approached Izuku who had yet to blink “This will be over in seconds!” he boasted as he pulled his arm back and used his quirk.

His quirk was a simple one, Strongarm allowed him to rotate his shoulders at extreme speeds which allowed him to send a near-endless barrage of bullet punches, add that with his insane strength and the result is obvious.

As he sent his fist forward, the expected happened and Kendo punched a hole through the teeanager in seconds but since the kid had made a joke out of them he decided to make a good example out of the white haired boy by making him a human swiss cheese.

In a blink, more holes appeared on Izuku’s body, some were purposefully aimed at his joints so his arms and legs were brutally cut off the rest of him. As the barrage ended the mangled corpse of the boy fell to the ground with a wet splat, Kendo turned around with a scoff, sure that he had taken care of the problem.

Hekiji simply shook his head as he thought about the hassle of cleaning the mess later but he couldn’t utter a word as his face went pale and reflexibly used his quirk to create a barrier to cover himself and Kendo.

Surprised by his partner's sudden move, Kendo asks “What are you-” We need to leave, now .” Hekiji interrupts him, his voice shaking with fear as he looks at something behind Kendo.

“That’s a really neat quirk you have” the new voice made Kendo flinch as he turned around only to take a step back in surprise as he looked at the kid he had just killed standing perfectly fine. If it wasn’t because of the tattered clothes or the severed limbs that remained on the floor he would have thought that he had never touched him.

With an excited smile, Izuku pulled back his own fist as his arm began to bulge and grow in size as red sparks jumped off him “Now let me show you mine”

Hekiji’s barrier is as strong as a thick wall of steel so he couldn’t wrap his mind as this child broke it with a single punch or maybe it was the fact that the attack had not ended there but continued until his arm had stretched like rubber and made it all the way over to him, making a gaping hole on his chest.

Pulling his arm back, Izuku looked at Hekiji’s dead body fall to the ground with a disappointed expression “Boring…” then he turned to look at Kendo who, when he felt the incredible pressure the teenager exudes, took a step back “Guess I’ll just take my price”

“You-!!” Before Kendo could even make a move, Izuku was already on him.

In a single move, Izuku thrust his hand deep into Kendo’s chest and used All For One causing red lines to burn into the villain's skin as Izuku seemed to casually look for something inside him.

His eyes lit up as the red strings that were searching inside the yakuza’s body, a small ball of light that pulsed with energy, the strings got to work like the string of a spider as it surrounded the ball like a cacoon and began pulling it towards Izuku.

Although, the noises that Kendo was making sounded suspiciously a lot like he was choking were annoying him.

A sudden wave of fresh air seemed to pass over him as he absorbed the little orb into his hand and he could feel it fall into place next to the other stars inside of him, making the little galaxy inside of him a little bigger.

Finally pulling his hand back did Izuku realize that the reason Kendo was making those noises was that he had accidentally crushed one of his lungs, well nothing he can do except focus on his captive audience.

Turning back towards the walls he could see in the distance the faint light of Joi’s quirk, he was a really slippery guy and Izuku wanted to see if he could entertain him but he had grown bored of him and he had someone else in mind.

Pulling his arms back, he could feel the new captured star inside of him shine brightly as he fed it the energy of One For All and how his own arms were shaking with excitement at seeing the result.

Just like he had seen Kendo do, Izuku sent his fist forth.

Joi had no chance to react as an endless barrage of attacks suddenly rained down on him, each one of those attacks made giant gaps on their base from the tunnels deep within the ground all the way to the outside.

And just like that, his cover had been blown, having been forced out of the wall he had been inside he found himself in the middle of the storm and his brain could barely work as the pain blinded him.

And just like a simple piece of paper, Joi was torn to shreds.

With a dangerous glint in his eyes, Izuku headed deeper into the lair.

------------------------

A small child, a girl with dirty white hair and a strange looking horn on her forehead wearing dirty and ragged clothes, sat curled up in the corner of a small cell looking at the ceiling as she felt the entire world around her shake.

Eri was used to danger, she lived in it, experienced it everyday, so for her something like an earthquake just made her slightly curious.

The muffled sound of sirens could also be heard as the alarms of the entire base sound off.

“Shit, another group lost contact…” One of the guards outside her room complained.

“What is happening out there…” the second guard muttered, clearly worried.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared” the first guard mocked them “If it was something big than the eight bullets would take care of it and we still have our boss as a last defense”

“I know but the alarms have been going for a really long while and we can’t haven’t gotten any contact with any of the other groups… maybe, we should-!!” their conversation was sudden as a new much younger voice spoke.

“This place sure is a labyrinth but I should be close now” 

“Hey you! How did you get here, what happened to the others!?”

“Oh good, maybe you guys will be able to point me in the right direction!

“You little shi-AAGGH!”

“S-Stop! No!”

Eri closed her eyes and tried her hardest to become smaller, she didn’t have to see to know what was going outside, the wet smacks, echoing crunches, pained cries and the metallic smell were more than enough for her to give her a clear image of the conflict outside.

What did surprise her was the sudden quiet that was then followed by the soft jingle of keys, bringing all of her bravery together, she dared to look at the door to see who it was.

She couldn’t recognize the person that stood at her door, with a head of striking white curls, a pair of shining emerald eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, cheeks and nose that were covered in dark freckles that were barely visible in the dim light of her room, the boy used the keys to open the lock on her door and easily pushed it open as they carefully walked in.

His eyes slowly looked around the room, a flash of disgust passing over their eyes as they saw the poor condition it was in before settling on her small form. Their eyes widened a little before changing to a much softer look.

She can’t help but flinch as he walks up to her, burying her face into her knees again as she waits for the pain to come.

A few seconds pass…

But it never comes.

She tentatively raises her head again and sees that the boy… has sat on the ground next to her, looking at her with the same warm green eyes, he looks at her with such affection that she can’t help but be confused by it.

The two just stare at each other, both wait for the other to make the first move and while Eri is dumbfounded by the situation the boy just acts as if he had all the time in the world.

Not knowing what to do in this sudden stalemate she found herself in, the little girl decided to break the silence “W-Who…” her voice came out like a quiet raspy whisper from the lack of use, they didn’t like it when she spoke or cried so she kept quiet.

A flash of anger came and went in the blink of an eye as the boy softly answered her question “I’m Izuku Midoriya” he answered with a gentle smile.

Izuku Midoriya

The name echoed in her head, she didn’t recognize it from any of the others she had heard so he might be someone that had just joined but what he had done outside didn’t make sense to her, so like the curious child she was, she asked “Why are you…”

“Why am I here? Is that what you want to ask?” Izuku asked, since talking was still difficult for her, he wanted to be sure he could answer correctly, and she nodded.

“It’s simple” he began “I’m here to get you out of here”

I’m here to get you out of here

The simple way he had said those words made her mind go blank, she had spent years hoping -praying- for her chance to get out of this prison and suddenly this boy comes in and offers her that freedom, it was too much for her little mind.

“ Why? ” 

The question comes out faster than she could process it.

Why was he here? Why was he acting like this to her, so kind, so warm? Why was he helping her? that little question held so much of her that she could barely understand it herself

Her whole life she had been nothing more than a tool for others to use, torn and put back together so many times that she wasn’t sure if she was still herself, she was in this cage for something, she didn’t know what but she must deserve it somehow.

He should fear her, be disgusted, hate her at the very least, but he just give her his kindness that she doesn’t understand

So why…

“Because you don’t deserve this” he told her, voice strafy and resolute as one of his hands slowly reached to cup her face, his hand bloody and sticky but oh so warm “They hurt you for no more than their own selfish reasons, they took away the happiness that was rightly yours, you did nothing wrong.”

Why did her chest feel so warm?

Before she knew it, her vision became blurry because of the warm tears that had begun to run down her face, as if a pipe had burst inside of her her grief and pain from all those years had begun to spill out of her, all because of this boy -Izuku Midoriya- who had shown her what it meant to be loved.

With trembling lips she began to cry with all her little heart could give as she wailed like a baby for the first time in years, her cries filled with sorrow.

Her small bandaged hands reached for the hand that still tenderly held her face and she grabbed it with all her might, even if it wasn’t much, scared that the new warmth she had found would suddenly disappear.

But Izuku wouldn’t leave, never again would he lose her.

With his other hand he slowly and carefully pulled her towards him and she practically melted into his embrace as she let her stain his already bloody clothes.

Her little body shook with every sob, a storm of emotions inside her as her walls came crumbling down but even then, right here right now…

She felt safer than ever before.

Minutes seemed like hours as her cries filled the room but all that emotion would tire anyone, and little Eri was no exception as she fell asleep still holding tightly to Izuku, the young time traveler couldn’t help but smile as he looked at her small form.

In his last life, when everything seemed to be falling apart, Eri held strong, having lived through a horrible situation for most of her, tragedy wasn’t a stranger to her but an old friend so when the villains struck, she didn’t falter.

Of course they never let her fight or even get close to the conflict, putting her with the other civilians in bunkers they had made to keep them safe, so when his teacher, their leader, Aizawa made him promise to take care of her when they were finished, it drove a stake to his heart as they both knew that only the younger of the two would make it out.

That promise was one of the things that had kept him going all the way to the day he finally beat All For One, the thought of giving the girl the news threatened to eat him alive, she had gained so much only to lose it all again in such short amount of time, it was as if fate was playing a horrible trick on them.

But now, none of that would ever happen, he will make sure of that, no matter the cost.

Using the arm that the little girl wasn’t clinging to, he pulled out one of the phones he had grabbed from one of the grunts and sent his location to Aizawa’s number, since this had become a normal thing for the two of them and with the commotion that Izuku had most definitely caused, he had no doubt that the hero would be here in no time.

Throwing the phone away, he carefully grabbed Eri with both his arms and carried her out of the room. He wanted to leave the base as soon as possible but there was still one loose end for him to take care of.

But it would seem that, if the sound of footsteps that got closer to him were any indication, he wouldn’t need to go too far.

As Kai Chisaki, otherwise known as Overhaul, finally appeared, a disgruntled expression on his face, he stopped a few feet away from Izuku who had yet to even glance at him, more preoccupied with the small girl in his arms.

“Are you the bastard that threw my base into chaos?” Chisaki asked, his words covered in venom as he glared at the white haired boy.

Izuku didn’t answer.

Fingers twitching, he asked again “Who the fuck are you?” Once again, Izuku didn’t answer.

Pulling his right glove off of his hand, Overhaul snarled “I said! Who the fuck are-” trhwing his uncovered hand to the wall he was ready to use his quirk to make the kid into nothing more then a piece of abstract art, the only problem was that a sudden blur of black and red interrupted him.

Blackwhip manifested and shot out of Izuku’s back in less than a second to wrap around Overhaul’s wrist and stop him before he could make a move.

Slowly, Izuku turned his eyes to the yakuza, the center of his eyes ruby red surrounded by toxic green, nothing but pure hatred could be seen in the boy's eyes as he looked at the man.

“She’s trying to sleep” even though he was whispering, his voice reached the yakuza leader just as if he was standing next to him as Eri buried her face into his chest.

Overhaul tried to pull his arm free from its restrains but the quirk had a tight hold on him, not even letting him budge from place but Izuku was not done, he had a long list of people he wanted to get revenge on, and Overhaul was really high on his list.

With a simple thought, the grip on the man’s wrist tightened, the pain shooting through his body as he tried to rip the tendrill off him only to fall to his knees in pain as Blackwhip only tightened its hold until-

Crack

-Overhaul pulled air, ready to scream as the pain sent bolts up his spine but just as fast as the first one, a new tentacle ripped his bird mask off from his face and covered his mouth muffling his screams.

“Good, that should keep you quiet” Izuku slowly walked closer to the villain, a third tentacle quickly moving to grab the villains left wrist “Now, this is how we are going to do things” Izuku simply placed his hand over Overhaul’s face and

Pulled

Overhaul tried to scream as he felt something deep inside of him be forcefully ripped out of its place, it was similar to a hand having punctured his chest, moving his organs aside while looking for something and when the found it, they took a tight grip of it and just as forcefully as they pushed in, they pulled out making a mess of his insides.

Just like that, Izuku had stolen his quirk, made him what the man had always wanted to be.

Quirkless.

Free of the sickness that he had wanted to rid the world off.

So he started breaking.

He finished the remaining wrist he had.

He broke his arms.

Then his hands and fingers.

Next his ribs.

His hip.

Legs.

Knees.

Feet.

He continued to break all of his bones while keeping him gagged so that Eri could sleep and when he ran out of anything to break that wouldn’t kill him.

He would force a healing quirk on him until his body was in perfect shape again.

And he would start again.

Break.

Heal.

Repeat.

Break.

Heal.

Repeat.

Break.

Heal.

Repeat.

Break.

Heal.

Repeat.

At some point, the screams stopped.

When Overhaul’s eyes became blurry and distant did he pull back the healing quirk.

To finish it off, Izuku wouldn’t do anything flashy, this scum didn’t deserve that, so he simply raised his foot over the villains head and

Break

-------------

Aizawa couldn’t believe the sight before him.

The sudden mesage that he had gotten from a random number, who he had guest was from his favorite vigilante, had led him to what he could only describe as a warzone.

The broken entrance of a building that in the night looked like the maw of a beast showed hundreds of corpses that had been torn or bludgeoned to death.

Heading deeper inside showed a labyrinth of, or at least the remains of one as it was covered in holes the size of buildings, one of them, the biggest hole of them all, reached all the way to the outside letting the light of the moon through.

As he walked lower, he found rooms filled with even more corpses, some burned to ashes, others with large holes on their bodies and even some that looked to be in the middle of melting.

But nothing could match the sight at the bottom floor.

Sitting with their back to a wall was their student Izuku Midoriya, their once green hair completely gone after being replaced by a snow white, their hands and feet covered in now dried blood as they cradled a small child in their arms and right in front of him, laying unmoving on the ground was a headless corpse.

As Izuku took notice of him, a relieved smile came to his face “ Sensei, you made it ”

Chapter Text

“Midoriya, what the fuck?”

“I promise I can explain”

“Well you better start or else I am throwing you directly into Tartarus” Aizawa threatened.

Taking a deep breath Izuku looked at his teacher with determination, the time has come, he’s finally gonna come clean.

With a steady voice “I know about One For All and All For One” Izuku threw the first stone.

Aizawa’s eyes widened at the boy’s sudden revelation, only a few knew about those things, they were pretty much a state secret so how did a normal student- suddenly, like a lightbulb turned on inside his mind.

He was right.

This entire time, he had been right.

Midoriya was a traitor.

“You little shit” Aizawa, now burning with anger rushed forward and tried to grab Izuku only for the boy to easily dodge him with surprising speed.

“Aizawa listen to me” Izuku tried to argue but his teacher wasn’t listening.

“You bastard, do they mean nothing to you!?” Aizawa went on the offensive as his eyes flashed red and his hair began to float and he took hold of his scarf as he rushed forward again“Is your sister in it too or are you lying to her too?”

The sudden aggressiveness of his teacher startled Izuku as he backed away while dodging a punch or a part of his scarf.

“What are you talking about!? Aizawa please!” Izuku was able to avoid the attacks of his teacher by the skin of his teeth although it would usually be much easier except that he was still holding tightly to Eri who was beginning to wake up.

At the sound of fighting and rough movements Eri acted on instinct and her horn began to shine.

Izuku immediately took notice of her quirk activating so he had to act fast.

Taking another step back Izuku pulled back his leg “Sorry Sensei!” and kicked a large piece of rubble on the floor. With perfect accuracy, the stone flew through the air and hit the teacher on the face with enough force to give Izuku a moment of freedom.

As the energy on Eri’s horn grew Izuku remembered how he had managed to survive one of her outbursts in the past, so he focused his all on a single quirk.

One For All Full Cowl 100%

Usually he activated a few body strengthening quirks alongs side OFA so that his body could handle a much higher amount of power but now it was purely OFA that he was using and the backlash was immediate.

He felt as his muscles ripped apart, how his bones began to shatter and his blood boiled but it disappeared again as Eri’s quirk took hold of him, rewinding his body back.

Aizawa, who had recovered from the sudden stun, looked back at his student and was shocked.

The grounds and wall around Izuku began to crack, red bolts of electricity jumped off him like he had become a thunderstorm, his body was covered in glowing red lines and his green eyes shone fiercely.

But he noticed something else, a few patches of his hair turned from that snowy white back to its brivant green only to turn white again.

On his arm a long black scar slowly traveled from the back of his arm and although it slowly receded it would also suddenly move forward, going further than before.

A similar dark scar began to travel up from his neck, all the way to right under his eye.

All Izawa could think was that Izuku was breaking like some statue made of marble.

Thankfully, Eri’s outburst did not last long as the energy disappeared and she fully woke up, she was startled to see Aizawa but soon her eyes fell on the headless corpse.

She could easily reconize the clothes of the man that tortured her for years and yet, seeing him like that… It didn’t make her feel anything.

Carefully Izuku turned her face back to him and gave her a warm smile “Look who’s awake, did you sleep well Eri?” he asked her, his tone light.

Eri nodded as she held tightly to Izuku, it was the best nap she had in her life.

“That’s good…” Izuku simply said as he returned her hold with a hug.

Aizawa had not made a move as he watched the two children interact. He had been keeping a careful look on Izuku the entire time to see for any break in Midoriya’s mask but he couldn’t find a single crack.

Either Midoriya was an even better actor than he had imagined or…

Or the boy was being genuine.

His worry and relief for the girl looked real and the child already seemed attached to him, letting out a bone deep sigh, Aizawa spoke.

“One chance”

Izuku looked back at his teacher with wide eyes.

“I am giving you one chance to explain, so if you don’t convince me…” The hero left the rest unsaid, but Izuku still smiled with gratitude at his teacher.

“But it would be better to leave, the police must be already on their way here” Aizawa was right! Izuku is still not fully out of it yet. “We’ll need somewhere where we can talk quietly, and I have an idea…”

----------

Izuku was surprised at AIzawa’s idea since the place he had taken them was his own home, he had even let them use Shinsou’s empty room as a place for Eri to sleep.

Sitting down on the chair offered to him “Thank you for letting us stay, Eri really needed a better place to rest” he felt grateful that his teacher could trust him enough to invite them in.

“Oh, I’m not doing this for you” Izawa cleared the misunderstanding “If I decide not to believe you I can say that you broke into my home to try kill me and my husband while we slept”

“Ah… That’s why…” Izuku tried his best to not sound too hurt.

“But back to the important stuff” Aizawa reclined back on his chair as he looked sharply at Izuku.

Izuku sighed and returned Aizawa’s glare with a determined one of his own.

“I’m a time traveler”

“If you wanted to lie then make a more believable one” Aizawa immediately countered as he hardened his glare.

“I’m being honest! It's- It's just a long story” Izuku defended himself.

He wasn’t lying, it really was a long and complicated story, how do you even begin to explain to someone a life that never happened? Bonds that will never be? People that never existed?

At the beginning, he started slowly, he began with the detailed past of the two brothers and their quirks.

Then he began to talk about his life. The life of a lonely quirkless boy and one big dream.

For some reason, his tongue stumbled and it was hard for him to say some of the facts, it wasn’t like he couldn’t remember them.

It just… it just didn’t feel real anymore.

From the moment he beat All For One and came back, he hasn’t stopped moving, always training, planning, lying. Waiting for the moment he would be caught.

Without even noticing it, he had already built walls around himself which completely distanced him from the ones he was trying to save.

He held it all inside for years, with the small spark of dread, that maybe he would wake up one day and find himself in that horrible battlefield once more.

But now, as the memories began to flood his mind and his lips moved faster, a crack appeared on those walls.

The more he spoke, the more detail he added, the memories of those days playing fresh in his mind as a trembling smile formed on his lips, these memories felt more like those of a past vacation.

He talked about the hours he spent training with his classmates, how he became more used to people thanks to them, how they pushed each other to greater heights.

But nothing ever lasts forever.

As he slowly approached the fall of UA, his tone turned more bitter, the way his heart ached as he watched the world turn on the heroes, how the city he loved and vowed to protect became nothing but rubble.

The only reason that Midoriya could even keep fighting wasn’t because of his moral code or even OFA, it was his friends.

After falling so low they still held out a hand for him to hold, his teachers did their best to plan and protect them while his friends stuck by his side were ready to pick him up if he fell down again.

So they fought.

They fought for an entire year, praying every day that this would be the last time they would have to wake up to that burning city, wake up and just take a nice walk around the mall like they used to.

But with war, came sacrifices.

He choked on the words, How do you tell someone about the faces of his fallen comrades that gave their life to give him a chance to move forward? About the dreams and hopes that were placed on his shoulders.

How do you tell a man about his own death?

“They died because I lived. Their blood- it's on my hands. And I don’t know how to live with that” He had begun to spiral, the nights that were filled with nightmares, the heart wrenching pain as his friends gave them a last smile as they jumped into a fight they could never win or the mind breaking guilt as he put down the twisted forms of his companions.

After taking deep breaths, forcing his beating heart to calm down, he moves on to this life.

It isn’t as hard as before and, honestly, he was quite happy to boast a little here.

The days he lost planning and digging up information after he woke up in that alley twice as smaller than normal.

How he did his best to plant the seeds that would one day grow to be magnificent crops.

The small and cozy moments that he spent with his mom.

His planned but still enjoyable meeting with Toga.

The mysterious reunion between Remnant and Shinsou.

The day he obtained a new sister and later obtained his fire quirk.

Midoriya pushed through whatever challenges were placed in front of him, until his own quirks became those problems.

Years of experimenting and growth until finally walking through the golden gates of UA for the second time.

Things only became tougher after that.

The disparity between his own memories and the reality he was facing scared him a lot.

Keeping every one of his beloved classmates at an arm’s length because of his secrets tore his heart out.

The way the leash he held tightly slipped from his fingers at the sight of the man that had robbed him of everything.

Becoming the reason his classmates couldn’t sleep well.

It was too much for him to bear.

And he cracked .

He fell silent not long after since Aizawa already knew most of the story. After that, his eyes fell onto his hands, they were shaking.

Not once in his two lives had he felt this vulnerable.

Not after he was killed for the first time.

Not when he saw his friends fade one by one.

Not when the blood in his hands mixed with that of his friends and family.

Not when he stole his first quirk.

Not when he became a monster.

Only now, after finally talking to someone about the ghosts over his shoulders, did he feel like glass.

Izuku only snapped out of it as he watched the large hands of the hero before him gently grab his own.

Aizawa had gotten out of his seat and knelt next to Midoriya, neither of them looked at each other but at their hands.

Aizawa was an expert at reading people and right now, watching as Midoriya almost crumbled from the pain of his own memories, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth.

The hero couldn’t help but be disappointed in himself for not being able to stop his student from experiencing all of this at such a young age.

Midoriya’s hand trembled in his gentle hold and Aizawa wondered if Atlas quivered so from the weight of the world.

They don’t talk. Izuku doesn’t offer to, and Aizawa won’t make him.

Izuku’s face was covered in dirt and grime, no wounds thanks to his own healing quirks but even then, he still looks like a kid. In the midst of his own war, he still looks like a teenage boy with the weight of the world in his shoulder, and Aizawa pulled him into his arms.

Izuku stiffens in his grasp for a few seconds before completely melting. He doesn’t start crying, doesn’t even sniffle, and Aizawa isn’t surprised. He wishes he would, of course- He wishes he would let out whatever he’s feeling, but he can’t afford to do it .

Instead, his fingers gripped his clothes so tight they almost tear. His head is buried in his shoulder, his arms around him just as tight as his. He’s been through war, and he’s still a bit raw from it, but he can still indulge in intimate moments like this.

The people had seen a symbol, a physical manifestation of freedom, a hero who would break through any challenge and free them from hell. His friends saw a pillar, an unyielding strength, a reminder of hope.

Aizawa sees a little boy. A very tired little boy.

And Aizawa makes a quiet promise to himself to never forget.

Chapter Text

After Izuku finally stopped spilling his heart out and calmed down he told his teacher to rest, he had already caused him too many problems and he would still need to deal with Eri when morning comes.

Finally alone and mentally exhausted from the hectic day, week, month he has had, he decides to get some fresh air.

Sneaking out and climbing the building was easy for him so he reached the roof in no time, his teacher’s home wasn’t anything outstanding so it wasn’t a great view to the city but he could see the police helicopters that were rushing to his most recent crime scene fly across the night sky.

Looking at the stars twinkling in the black sky, Izuku fell silent as the weight of it all fell on his shoulders.

Many of the things he had planned were done, the people he wanted to protect were safe, now there was only one last thing he needed to do.

But before that…

"D-Dad…"

The word comes out clumsy, as if his tongue didn't know how to say it but the ghost of Hisashi did not waste a second to appear by his son's side, eager for the first time he had called for him.

"Can… can you tell me about yourself?"

"What brought this?"

His father is obviously curious, but he was definitely willing to tell his son anything he just wanted to know why.

"I…" Izuku, for the first time since he had come back, feels nervous "I realized that even back then, before everything happened, I never knew anything about you"

"Even then, laying next to you waiting for you to die, I knew nothing about the man who called himself my father"

Falling silent once more, Izuku looked at his hands, even if they were clean now a part of his mind would forever make him remember them stained in blood.

His father silently stared at him, feeling guilt coil in his chest as he painfully recognized the look in his son's face, one that he has seen more than enough times in the mirror.

"Alright, son" Izuku looks back at him, surprise clear on his face "let me tell you the story…

Of the greatest Demon King"

-------

They were a normal family like any other.

A husband, Hisashi, a wife, Kazue, and their precious child, Mitsaki.

That was the life of the man once known as Hisashi Shigaraki.

He was a man who dreamed of one day showing his paintings in an exhibition, walking through those halls hand in hand with his loved ones.

Maybe spend the afternoons sitting on the couch and reading his brother's future books.

A good life.

Sadly, fate is one cruel mistress, always pulling the carpet under one's feet at the worst time.

And as he heard the news of humans beginning to develop superpowers, he knew this was one of those moments.

At the beginning many people saw it as a blessing, the dreams of many became true, from video games and movies directly into real life.

It was like a dream come true.

But many forget that power doesn't discriminate.

Anyone can have it, use it as they please, and that is the true cold reality of the world.

With the rise of those that dreamed to become heroes of the modern world so came those that wanted the opposite.

Heroes and villains, two sides of the same coin.

Of course, after the initial shock, people began to talk.

"A new step forward"

"Human growth is amazing!"

"A bright future"

Some people looked positively at the situation, of course it's impossible everyone thought the same.

"FREAKS!"

"MONSTERS!"

"DEMONS!"

Many just couldn't accept the change and thought that those who obtained powers were freaks of nature.

For a while Hisashi did not care, yes he learned much of it unwillingly because of his little brother but he and no one in his family had powers so why should he care?

At least, until he saw the lights.

He didn't know what they were but one day he could just suddenly see these floating lights inside people, not everyone, only those that had super powers.

And he knew what this meant.

For himself.

His family.

And his future.

So he hid. Putting himself and his family away from the masses to try and hide from their judging eyes.

But, unless you are dead, secrets will always come out.

So when he heard a loud knock on the door, even when his whole family was already inside, he knew that the time had come.

The knocking quickly changed to loud repeated bangs against the door, trying to run turned out to be useless as the door quickly caved at the sheer number of people on the other side.

People who hated those with powers just for being different or for thinking that they would all become villains, those people broke into his home and on baseless rumors, separated him from his wife and child.

They showed them no mercy even if the two were free of his sin but from just knowing him did the masses pass judgment on them with weapons raised.

And when he saw the red, his vision turned black.

He still didn't understand how his own powers worked but there was no need as his instincts took over and on the first person he saw with a small light within them, he pulled.

That was the first quirk he ever stole.

He doesn't know how long it took but when he came back the walls had been painted in red and inside him was a growing constellation.

Bodies littered the floor but the only ones he cared about were the ones of his late wife and child.

At that moment, something deep within the man broke and the only thing that maintained him together was the small glimmer of hope that was his trembling younger brother.

His last family.

His last precious thing.

He'll protect him.

He'll become stronger so that no harm ever falls on him.

So, with bloodied hands and a fire burning within his heart, he ventures forward a path of revenge.

Getting allies wasn't hard, others that were just as hurt as him were everywhere and those that just wished to hurt others were nice dispensable pawns.

Making a small army was much easier than he could imagine, his ideas and feelings resonated with those broken and his unique power demanded respect from the rest.

Of course, there were those that tried to get in his way, those annoying heroes.

He just couldn't understand, how could they side to try and protect those that had taken everything from him?

After many close calls with death and a few silver strands of hair appearing did he realize that he wouldn't be able to finish this mission in his lifetime.

And it enraged him.

If he fell and died before being able to see them pay, it would be his loss, and Hisashi is a very competitive man.

Thankfully, powers were growing and changing so finding one that made him live for longer wasn't that hard.

Of course, knowing that the world was dangerous, as much as he wanted to protect his brother he knew that his brother would need something to protect himself and judging by the lack of light in him, he knew what he needed to do.

Like a good older brother, he gave him an old toy of his.

Oh how that came back to bite him.

Raising his hand against his brother, his most precious person, tore his heart apart.

He could see nothing but rage in his little brother's eyes as sparks flew off him, the power he had given him having clearly taken root within him.

But it wasn’t enough.

But even then, after his brother had gone to the one’s against him, had tried to stab him in the back, placed him in the role of a villain, he could never hate him.

So he did the second best thing.

He placed him under lock and key.

It may seem cruel, but he couldn’t bring himself to watch his brother go somewhere he couldn’t reach.

Except that the world had it against him.

The broken vault door seemingly mocking him as it revealed an empty metallic room with only a few comic books littering the floor.

That day, a large part of Japan became a crater.

Anger was replaced with panic, he didn’t know where his brother had gone, how he was doing and the faces of his lost family mocked him for being so careless.

So when he saw his brother once more, relief washed over him like waves, if only the light inside of him was still there.

His little brother, just as much of a dramatic bitch as him, explained that he indeed had a power before the one he forced bestowed on him, it was just as impressive as his own, the ability to pass on his own power.

But even then, completely powerless, he still held something over him.

His life.

And like a brat, he decided to break it.

The sight of everything he had wanted to protect, laying on the floor like a puppet that had its strings cut sent him into a rampage.

Anger completely replaced by grief as the once composed villain became nothing more than a wounded beast.

His cry echoed into the night as he clutched the cold body.

His mind was covered in dark clouds for weeks, not caring about what any of his subordinates did or what they expected of him, his reason to live was gone, so why should he continue?

At least, until he saw the first person with two lights within them.

A man with spiky hair tried to glare a hole into him but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that, because the familiar shine of his brother’s power had taken all his attention.

The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

And he felt as something deep within him spark back to life.

That was it.

The last thing that remained of his brother.

Without hesitation, he reached out.

And it slipped out of his grasp.

As slippery as always, huh Yoichi?

But he didn’t give up, he would never give up, not until the quirk was brought to its rightful place, by his side.

His brother was annoying, yes, but he didn’t think he would make a game of cat and mouse last for more than a century.

So now, after that blasted Shimura destroyed most of his evil empire, he had to go into hiding once more.

And for a good cover, he needed a job, maybe he’ll try a new job, he’s got over a hundred years of experience, he’s sure that he can do anything.

Alright, being a lawyer did not go well but that isn’t fair when you can’t help but see the face of your dead wife in place of your opponent.

The woman he had gone against, Inko Midoriya, was an almost perfect copy of his late wife, aside from the green hair.

So the words spilled out of him faster than he could react, asking to get to know her.

From that point on, the strange relationship between the two began, meeting up to talk about whatever was on her mind and whatever random job he had decided to pick up.

It… it was cathartic.

Just sitting down and relaxing, when was the last time he had done this? When was the last time he had lived in the present?

Before he knew it, his heart, once thought cold and dead, began to beat once more.

And oh, the moment he was able to hold his new child was possibly the single greatest moment of them all.

It was only because of his fear of hurting little Izuku that he didn’t crumble to the floor and cried.

Looking at the new precious treasures in his life, did he feel a fog clear in his eyes, he had found something to hold, something to care about again.

So he decides something. He will get his brother back and then his family can finally live in peace.

Or so that was the plan.

Before a massive golden ox ran him into the ground.

Now, forced to live like a bat, rage simmers under his skin as he burns the image of All Might into his mind, having everything he ever wanted so close only for it to be taken away once more.

He will take his revenge no matter what.

-------

“And after that… I think you know what happens next”

Izuku stays silent as he digests the story, an ugly feeling coils around his heart as he thinks of the sibling they will never meet.

“So there you have it, the story of a man that was controlled by his own emotions until he burned everything down, that’s the Demon King”

First, having manifested at some point, glanced at his brother with a swirl of emotions in his eyes, words left unsaid between the two.

“Okay…” Izuku sat down on the roof, a glint of determination on his eyes “I think I made my decision”

“Decision for what?” First asked.

“I’m going to make a deal with All For One”

“Son, are you sure about that? That quirk is dangerous and now that it has a mind of its own, even more, they could…” his father doesn’t dare finish that sentence.

“It’s okay, I think I have an idea on how to get them on our side” Izuku smiled at the two brothers, no hesitation or doubt could be found in his eyes.

The ghostly brothers could only swallow their concerns as they knew that Izuku was stubborn enough that only god could come down to stop him, and even that wasn’t a guarantee.

So, with heavy hearts, they nodded.

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes, beginning to focus on the world inside himself.

Once he opened them again, he was no longer on a roof but a dark void illuminated by a galaxy worth of stars above him, and in front of him was a heavy metal vault door.

Next to him was a figure made of golden flames who, even without a mouth, showed his own concern towards the little green.

Izuku smiled “Thank you for protecting me again, All Might, but it's time I stop running” his voice was steady and he did his best to show his conviction.

All Might sadly nodded as he went to open the vault.

The sound of metal scrapping metal echoed around them as the door slowly opened.

Inside the dark room, at the very back rested a figure very familiar to him.

A boy with messy dark green hair, a broken and tattered hero suit, white gloves dyed red and around his feet was not a shadow but a wiggling black and red sludge.

Blood red eyes met with shining green.

“ Welcome back, Hero ”

Chapter Text

"So, to what do I owe the honor?" His clone asked, a smirk playing on their lips.

Izuku casually looked around as the world shifted once more.

No longer inside the vault but in the familiar white void, inside their territory but it's not like he wasn't expecting it.

"I came to make a deal"

"Oooooh! A deal!" The quirk faked surprise as they placed a hand over their mouth "Has the time finally come? Did you finally realize…" their hand pulled away to reveal a dark smile and their voice dropped to a dangerous tone "that you are nothing without me?"

"Maybe" Izuku shrugs.

The quirk scowls "You just can't let me enjoy anything, but fine I'll listen to you, for now"

That's all he needs.

"We are in the last stretch and we need everyone on board for it to work, so I want you to willingly join us, no more stealing quirks when you want or taking over my body, we do this together"

It is a simple offer of peace but as his clone bursts into laughter, he knows that he is going to have to play rough.

"You really- HA!- YOU REALLY THINK I WILL JUST JOIN YOUR LITTLE GANG OF GUARD DOGS!?" The red eyed boy wipes a fake tear of his eye as he holds his stomach before suddenly stopping, silence falling between the two "What shitty joke is that?"

"You know we could have finished this years earlier" AFO growls "but you just wanted to waste your time with those precious friends of yours"

"So, was it worth it!?" He screams, anger swirling in his eyes "did you feel good as they looked at this stranger!? Did it make you happy!?"

"Now that things are getting risky, what do you do? You come back crawling to us!" The quirk marches up to Izuku and grabs him by the clothes "You could have saved more people, stopped that bastard faster, saved us! So what do you think gives you the right to order us around!?"

"I couldn't just leave the people I cared about like that, I needed to help them-" "And what about all the people you didn't save!?"

"Every day that passed was someone that was taken by the hands of that man, either for their quirks or for materials for Nomu's, are they not worth anything in your eyes? What happened to being a hero!?"

The clone suddenly staggered back, a stinging sensation on their cheek, they raised a hand in shock before looking at Midoriya and his bruised fist.

"A hero?" Izuku's voice was low, no longer holding the same confident tone as before but now filled with a simmering anger "Wasn't it you who said that a villain was better than a dead hero?"

"But you're right, what happened to that dream? Well I have an answer for you" Izuku glared at his copy, hands trembling in a restrained storm of emotions "I am not a hero, I will never be a hero" he was spitting out the title as if it would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

"The only hero here is the one you are copying. Someone who chased after that bright light for so long he had never realized it was too late until it burned him"

"I have lived an entire lifetime fighting for others and what did that gain me!? Nothing! I had lost everything just for that stupid title, so don't you dare call me a hero" he was breathless with anger

AFO gritted their teeth "so that's it? Then what are you? A villain? A vigilante? What will your dear friends think about that?" Fury glowed in their eyes

"I don't care what they think" Izuku bared his teeth. "I finally realized who I am. I'm not a villain, a hero or even a vigilante, I am just a selfish kid who wants the best for those who he can reach" warm tears began to roll down his face

"What others think doesn't matter to me, I'm fine with protecting my own happiness, and the ones within my reach. And if anyone aims for that, then I will just erase them. I think you are misunderstanding something here, but you know? I'm actually…" he raised his eyes to glare at his double who had a snarl on their face "Very, very petty."

As those words of challenge echoed through the air, neither boy spoke but it was clear what was next.

AFO was the first one to strike.

Sending forth a wave of blue flames towards the greenette who covered themselves in green lightning and jumped into the air.

Izuku shot forward blackwhip, black tendrils digging into the ground, and pulled himself forward sending himself forward with the speed of a bullet.

Covering themselves in black lightning, the quirk could only block as Izuku kicked them at mach speed sending them flying back.

AFO roared as their hand morphed, the tips of their fingers becoming metal and splitting open, a spark of light shined from the bottom before a barrage of red bullets flew at Izuku.

Even with enhanced speed, Izuku would not normally be able to dodge the wall of bullets coming at him but as Danger sense activated he was able to use his instincts to avoid any deadly hits and coming out with only a few cuts.

Shooting forward once more Izuku spun in the air as yellow energy covered his foot, the quirk answered back by inflating one of its arms and swinging at the Fa jin infused attack.

The air around them rippled as the two attacks collided, and Izuku clenched his jaw as a spike of pain shot through his head and an image appeared in his mind.

People strapped to tables, a man with a messy white mustache and big googles looking down at them, the sharp edge of the surgical knife on his hand gleamed as the light hit it.

Both fighters were pushed back, Izuku scowled at the pain in his foot and his copy grimaced at the hand that bent the wrong way.

But that didn't stop either of them as they threw themselves at eachother once more.

Being the personification of multiple quirks gave them a few advantages, an example was the suden electricity they released from their hands towards Izuku.

The only down side was their opponent.

Izuku, who has had years of quirk analysis under his belt, was able to figure out how the new attack worked and then counter it or avoid it as the fight went on.

AFO lunged at him with a jaguar's speed, but Izuku lowered his head to dodge their deadly metal covered punch and retaliated with an uppercut. Once more another vision flashed in his mind.

People running, a city engulfed in flames and dark clouds that blocked out the sky.

A man that could only beg for mercy as a large hand came to rest on his head.

The vicious brawl continued for minutes, perhaps hours; the once well thought out movements changed to those similar to wild beasts as the two combatants clawed and pulled at whatever their hands could get a hold of.

Smashing against the ground once more, the two duelists dug each other deeper into the crater they made, one punch at a time, with no one but them as witness.

That's when, with a wild look in their eyes, AFO roared.

Underneath them, the black and red mud spread like water as it covered the ground and from it, human hands began to arise and grab at Izuku.

Jumping back, Izuku witnessed as from the sludge the form of men, women and even children rose in droves and began to rush at him with reckless abandon.

They all fought with different quirks, one man had blades instead of hands, a woman shot electricity against and a child had tried to stop him with telekinesis.

But Izuku only had one goal in mind, so he began to tear through the faceless figures, ignoring the growing migraine that each kill gave him as more images came to mind.

A woman pleading to save her child.

A boy that didn't back down until his last breath.

An old man, bones so weak that they could barely move.

All of them ended as a hand covered their view.

Pushing through Izuku was barely able to reach the red eyed boy, a tired but still sparkling look in their eyes.

AFO was stronger than anyone he had faced, their style was rough and direct, almost robotic, but nonetheless effective. Each of his blows carried as much strength as the first.

But they lacked something priceless, an edge that allowed Izuku to dominate them.

Experience.

As Izuku fell on them and saw them raise their fist, bulging, covered in metal spikes and pulled too far back. He didn't see the manic amalgamation of quirks he had come to fight. He saw the small time villains, psychos, murderers, science abominations and insane leaders that he had bested across the years. He saw all the people he had in close combat over an entire lifetime.

Izuku's body reacted on its own, drawing upon years perfecting his moves and he countered.

Using Float to delay his fall for just a second made AFO stutter, Izuku then went Blackwhip to wrap around their neck and pulled down using them as a point to pull themselves, then spun around once more as their body was covered in yellow sparks and struck.

The clone could barely let out a noise as they were sent flying, Izuku following closely.

AFO seethed with pain and rage, their moves growing wilder, unfocused, desperate. When their fist missed Izuku the very ground trembled before their might. Their lips uttered a single word. "Why?"

"Why are you losing?" Izuku punched them in the face again "Because for all your might, your fists only carry the strength of your hatred behind them. While mine carry the weight of decades, the hopes of thousands."

His arm covered in red lines before going straight at the center of his doppelganger, a satisfying crunch reached his ears.

A kick cut through the air as it struck at their chest, and Izuku smiled at the feeling of their ribs caving in.

AFO sent a fist covered in black lightning, even while beaten and bruised they didn't give up, and OFA answered equally.

The two fists crossed and struck each other directly on the side of their face, pushing each other with all their strength; the two didn't move as only their labored breathing could be heard.

Finally, red eyes blurred and dropped to the ground.

Izuku wiped blood off their lips as they looked at the exhausted body of their clone on the ground.

"So…" the words that came from them were empty, lacking any of the fire and anger they had before. "This is it? Our loss?"

Izuku didn't answer.

They let out a tired laugh "Maybe, this is what we deserved, we are the losers after all so what right do we have to complain…"

"My offer still stands"

"We don't want your pity"

"It's not pity, you may have lost your battles but now, I'm giving you the chance to win the war, to take the revenge you all wanted, all I ask is that we do this together" he stretched out his bruised hand.

Silence was the only thing he received for a while until a grunt broke it and the downed clone struggled to push themselves back to their knees.

"You better honor that or I will make this a living hell"

Izuku smiled as they grabbed their hand.

The world changed and they suddenly found themselves in the vault once more, behind them Toshinori's ghost looked at them with fond expressions.

Izuku opened his eyes to an orange sky.

Slowly rising to his feet, stretching them out after not moving all night, the cold air made his skin tickle.

Taking a deep breath he focused into the well of power within him and pulled.

He felt as the usual energy poured into his body, except this time he could feel something new in it.

As the sun began to rise in the horizon, Izuku stood at the top covered in green and black lightning that danced in harmony with each other.

Now only to set the stage.

----------

Nezu had a feeling today was going to be special and his intuition only grew more correct as Aizawa informed him that he would need to talk to him.

But what he wasn't expecting was the hero to walk into his office accompanied with a white haired student.

As the boy took a seat on the chair in front of his desk, Aizawa standing behind them with their arms crossed, Nezu realized, if only by the freckles, that this was Izuku Midoriya.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up as his shining green eyes and glowing red pupils pinned him to his seat.

"Hello director" the boy said with a sweet smile that didn't reach his eyes "I'm here with a proposition"

Nezu couldn't help the sharp smile that came to his face.

Chapter Text

To say that Himiko was worried would be an understatement, she was on the edge of having a full freak out.

After her horrible fight with her brother and running away only to be stopped by All Might before she could go far, she was a mess. She had hoped for the support of her family and her mom did accept it but Izuku…

Ughh… just thinking about it again made her feel worse but the fact that he never returned either to their mom or the dorms all night didn’t sit right with her.

So sitting in her classroom made her feel all itchy, like a tightly coiled spring, just wanting to get up and go search for him. She knew he was strong, stronger than any of them but there was still that freak accident that happened last night that made an entire street disappear.

She couldn't focus on anything, only gaining bits and pieces of the conversations her classmates were having, something about Shinsou's sister?

It felt wrong to see his seat empty, like something had been ripped away from her and she couldn’t help but feel like it was her fault.

She could barely focus as their homeroom teacher walked in and she would have completely dismissed the man if it wasn’t for his words.

“I have an important announcement to make so quiet down” their teacher only continued after their voices disappeared “Some of you may know that the sports festival is coming up and that you are all required to participate. Well, I was late because I was talking to the principal about one of you” Their teacher then turned to look at the still open door and nodded.

Slowly, a boy with messy stark white hair walked in, his hands, neck and right cheek covered in bandages, most of the class couldn’t recognize the kid but not Himiko, even if they looked different she could recognize those green eyes anywhere.

Somehow reading their mind, their teacher clicked his tongue “How blind are you all? This is Izuku Midoriya” the revelation brought a noise of surprise out of everyone, their classmate just smiled at them. “After suffering a number of wounds, the principal has accepted to let him skip the event and after it, Midoriya will be officially leaving UA”

That brought everyone to silence.

Izuku took the chance "I want you all to know that this is of my own decision and that I fully enjoyed the short time we had together, thank you all for everything" they couldn't find a single hint of sadness in his words.

After that, as if nothing had happened, Izuku took his seat and Aizawa started the class.

Through it all, the class was obviously out of it. The sudden message that one of them was leaving made all of them stop. They had been aware of the threat of expulsion since the very first day, but for one of them, Midoriya of all people, to actually go was not something they had even imagined.

And the thing that confused them the most, was how the boy in specific was completely unfazed by this. Yes, Izuku had said it was his decision but this is UA, the greatest hero school there is, most would try to argue a little to stay.

This news affected all but three classmates in particular who were looking at Midoriya with different gazes.

When the bell rang a quick silent conversation happened between their teacher and Izuku as they nodded at each other. The moment the adult walked out of the room chaos erupted.

"Why are you leaving!?"

"What happened to you!?"

"How are you fine with this!?"

Their voices mixed together into a barely understandable mess of noise but Izuku didn't move back, instead he raised his hands to try and stop them.

"Guys, please calm down, it's fine. Like I said, all of this was my decision so there's nothing to feel bad about, and don't worry about me, I just had a small accident is all" Izuku lied as he got up and grabbed his bag, the smile on his face ever present but never actually reaching his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet up with Aizawa again."

His classmates could only move out of his way as the almost tangible wall he had placed between them pushed them aside.

Izuku walked through UA's hallways without a care in the world, making turns to the left and right before he reached a dead ende and turned back at the three that had been following him.

"Hello Himiko, Bakugo, Todoroki, can I help you?" He asked with a sweet tone.

"You fucking know why we're here" Bakugo went first as he glared at Izuku "What the hell happened nerd?"

"About the expulsion?" Izuku somehow dared to tilt his head and look surprised "I already said that this was something I chose so there-"

"Then what are those bandages for?" Himiko interrupted, "What happened to you?" It was just one night , was left unsaid.

"It was just a little accident, nothing too bad" Izuku let out a blatant lie with a smile making her stomach turn and for Bakugo to growl at him.

"Then what are you going to do?" Todoroki asked, his eyes as cold as before but Izuku could see the small swirl of emotions in it.

"I'll still participate in class and cheer for all of you when the festival comes but after that, it'll be farewell" 

"What happened to your dream? What happened to being a hero?" Bakugo asked, anger and a tinge of sadness in his words but they got a reaction out of Izuku.

A flinch.

His hands fiddle with the straps of his backpack, thinking of an answer before finally "Life happened, it happened and now I will never see the end of that dream." his words echoed around the hallway, they exuded a bone deep exhaustion and the way he was looking at the floor instead of them said more than anything.

But just as fast as it came, it was replaced by the fake smile "but you will. You'll grow up, you'll live and become the very best" it was said not as a request but as if it was a fact of reality but there was a strange desperate edge to it.

Bakugo clenched his fists, he knew Izuku, he may have changed a lot but whoever it was in front of him was an entirely different person, so he held his tongue and walked away.

Todoroki followed him, only sending a glance back at Midoriya before disappearing.

Himiko stayed and so did Izuku, they both knew they had much more to say.

As his full attention fell on her, she could feel as if he didn't much look at her as he did through her, as if he was looking at someone else or something else.

"You took it, didn't you?"

She knew what he was talking about, she didn't know how he knew but he did, and she nodded.

Neither of them spoke, the words getting stuck in her throat as she looked at the barely recognizable boy. She knew it was Izuku but he was so different from who he had been just yesterday, what happened to him?

"I guess I can't get in your way anymore, but Himiko…" his smile was gone "Do you really think you can carry that? Can you really hold such a bright light without getting burned?"

She blinked in surprise, the words were obviously warnings but to what? The quirk? But how would he know if it was dangerous "What are you-"

Izuku ignored her question as he walked past her "Izuku!" She grabbed his wrist to stop him "What are you talking about? What happened to you!?"

"Sis, do you remember our promise?" Without looking back he asked her.

A promise? What-

"If… for some reason I become a villain--"

Her eyes widened as the memory of that night struck her and she watched as Izuku turned to her and smiled, giving her a real smile.

One filled with regret.

He took the chance of her shock to pull his hand away and walk around the corner, getting out of her view.

It took her a second to register everything but when she did, she ran after her sibling only to find an empty hallway.

--------

Aizawa glanced at the tired teen that walked into the room, a swirl of emotions in his eyes.

"Took your time"

"Sorry" Izuku apologized "Some of them ended up following me."

"It's alright Midoriya" Nezu said as he poured another cup of tea "but I believe it is time we get ourselves in order now, so shall we?"

Izuku took the open seat and held the warm cup as he nodded "Always to the point, but you are correct"

"I have already placed a few trackers in Ingenium's suit so it'll be easy to track his location and watch him through any cameras we need to" the white rat took a sip of his drink as he explained.

"And have you already checked?" Aizawa asked, Izuku frowned but nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, Himiko has One For All" seeing the bright shine of the quirk had made his stomach turn but he knew that it was something that he needed to prepare himself for.

Aizawa sighed "Then I guess we'll have to go through with that plan…" there was a bitter expression on the man's face.

Nezu slowly nodded "It would have been better if it didn't come to this but alas, I'll do what you said and contact Power loader so than he can get us Hatsume" 

"I'll also need one of the training grounds, before I leave I need to have a good conversation with Todoroki to fully break him out of his shell" Izuku requested.

"You'll have it by tomorrow" the dark haired hero answered.

The trio continued their discussion for a few more minutes, ironing out more of the kinks and making sure to be on the same page of what they were going to need, Izuku forced himself to ignore the saddened glances the two of them gave him, he couldn't falter, not now, not ever. When they finished Izuku stood up from his seat and reached for the door.

"Midoriya, before you leave, I must ask you once more" the intelligent black eyes of the principal looked at Izuku with a somber look "Are you truly sure that you wish to do this?"

Izuku didn't answer right away, a tired smile forming on his face with the eyes of a man that had accepted his fate that did not fit his young appearance.

"It's the only way" He declared "For this cycle to finally end, One For All and All For One both need to die."

---------

During the classes Izuku maintained his kind nature with his classmates but very clearly maintained a wall between them so when he suddenly asked to meet later with Todoroki, it surprised everyone.

To the two toned boy, it was more of a surprise that the mysterious boy brought him to one of the training rooms the teachers had told them about before.

“So, Todoroki, how have you been?” Izuku casually asked him as if he wasn’t the biggest mystery in school.

“I’ve been… fine”

“That’s great” the white haired boy began to stretch “Tell me, have you thought about what I told you when we first met?”

“About my power…” Izuku nodded

“That’s good, you’ve been thinking about it, so what do you think?”

Shouto fell silent and instead, he raised his left arm and a small orange flame formed on his palm. Izuku smiled and looked at him with warm eyes, he looked so proud of him, and expression that he hadn't seen from his parents in such a long time.

“I was planning to bring you here and force that fire out of you but you’ve already beat me to the punch” moving to the other side of the ring, Izuku rolled back his sleeves revealing more of the bandages that covered his body “How good are you now?”

“I’ve been practicing but it’s still difficult to control.”

“That’s to be expected, quirks are like muscles the less you use them the harder it will be to move when you need it. So I’ll help”

“What?”

“I’ll help you train” He repeated “I have a similar quirk so I can give you advice in that side”

“But your wounds-”

Izuku let out a laugh “Scared to lose to some in bandages? Come on Todoroki, something like this won’t stop me from giving you a lesson”

It was a dumb taunt, something you would hear middle schoolers say so… why was he smiling?

“Heh, come on Todoroki” Izuku’s hands were engulfed by blue flames ad the temperature of the room grew higher “Show me that you can grasp that power and make it yours”

“Show me that you can be a hero.”

Seeing the determined look in his friend, Todoroki took a deep breath. Midoriya had led him down a path he never imagined for himself, one that would not only allow him to become the hero he dreamed of but to also escape the chains his father had placed on him so long ago.

He was incredibly thankful to him and that is why…

Ice and fire burst out of Todoroki, an excited smile on his face.

He’ll give it his all, just for him.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day.

A clear sky, the bright laughter of children and excited chatter of adults.

The students all talked to each other with equal excitement and nervousness as the stadium began to fill, in some seats they could even see some pro heroes. If they did good enough they could even catch their attention!

The air was filled with energy as the speakers buzzed to life.

" WEEEELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE GREATEST MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE!!" Mic's voice boomed across the arena and everyone in the stadium answered back with their own screams of excitement.

" AS YOU ALL ALREADY KNOW " the hero continued " OUR STUDENTS WILL GO HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST EACH OTHER IN THESE TRIALS BEFORE MOVING ONTO OUR MAIN ATTRACTION, THE TOURNAMENT!! " The people burst into cheers, if the radio host knew how to do something it was getting a crowd excited.

" AND TO START US OFF! COVER YOUR EYES CHILDREN BECAUSE IT'S THE 18+ HERO, MIDNIGHT!" somehow, the voices of the people became louder as the beautiful woman walked onto the stage whip in hand.

At the center front of the stage, she stood with a mic as she overlooked the determined student's, a fire clear in their eyes.

"Looking at so many passionate kids is making me all tingly~" Midnight's sultry voice echoed, sending a shiver through her fans' bodies "So to finish this boring introduction, let's hear a few words from the number one in this generation, Izuku Midoriya!"

The students clapped and cheered at their classmates name but none as loud as class 1-A. All of them expected that even if he wasn't going to participate, considering how extremely busy he had become in the past few days, they thought that he was definitely going to do something for the sports festival, although when asked he would stay quiet and say that it would 'blow their minds".

Bzzzt-

Suddenly, an ear piercing screech burst out of every speaker in the stadium, making everyone cover their ears and for any person with enhanced hearing to fall to their knees in pain.

When the noise finally stopped, a new voice that cut through the silence caught everyone's attention.

"Sorry about that, taking over these things is always a hassle" a tired but calm voice made them look around in confusion, was this still part of the event?

"Thank you Midnight for the oh so kind words. the voice purred "but I'll be taking over now."

The speakers went silent with a click, the people were still confused, who was that? Was that meant to happen?

"Hey, what's that?" One of the people asked as they pointed at the strange black spot in the otherwise clear sky.

Slowly, more and more people began to take notice of the dark spot in the sky, it couldn't be a faraway plane or helicopter since it was perfectly unmoving. The heroes, feeling the tension in the air, stood ready for anything.

Then the object began to fall.

As it began to catch speed and grow closer its form became slightly more recognizable.

It wasn't an object but a person.

The heroes took no chances and acted on the possible threat.

Mountain Lady grew in size as she made to grab the person only to miss as they somehow made a sharp turn midair.

All she could see after that was green sparks and the feeling of a truck hitting her full force in the face.

The giant woman stumbled back and clutched at her broken nose, blood dripping to her lip as she turned back to normal.

The second to try was Endeavor, his scowl deeper than ever before as someone dared to ruin the day his son proved to be better than everyone.

Using his fire to rocket himself forward he was ready to take down the mystery person with a powerful flaming fist.

Except that the stranger suddenly stopped their descent as if they were standing on something, making his fist miss.

Before he could correct himself, a strange black rope wrapped around his torso and began to spin him around like a toy before throwing him down into the earth next to where Midnight stood.

The spectators could only scream in fear as the heroes fell against this unknown threat, they began to leave their seats and run away in a panic.

Most heroes don't have much of a way to fly so the ones on the ground could only watch or try to help the civilians as the covered intruder walked down to their level.

Now with a perfect view of them, they could clearly see their outfit.

A black suit with teal-green highlights on the lines, equipped with black iron soles and black boots. Over their head is a black cowl covering the top of their face in shadow with bunny-like ear protrusion on the top of it, and covering the bottom is a metal respirator.

Midnight was about to rip a part of her suit to use her quirk but the intruder was much faster as one of those black tendrils burst from their back pierced her stomach.

"Really, no one wants to let me have a word, how mean." With a flick of their wrist, the tendril threw away Midnight like thrash, causing gasps and horrified screams to ring out and for some of the heroes to rush to her side.

Behind them, Endeavor was trying to climb out of the hole his fall had made, only to be pushed back by a foot placed on his chest.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." Even when he struggled, it was as if an entire building had been placed above him.

The speakers suddenly turned on.

"Now where was I?" Once again, their voice boomed through the stadium. "That's right, I should probably explain all this."

Spreading their arms wide, the intruder said "Welcome to the end of the line, this is where your world ends."

Their words caused everyone to fall silent, was it the fact that those words didn't make sense? Was it because he beat three heroes in less than a minute? Or maybe because he was standing over the number two hero as if he was a bug?

"Who- Who the fuck are you?" The struggling number two asked while still trying to move or even burn the leg over him to terrible results.

"Hmm…" the intruder pondered, putting a hand over their respirator in a thinking pose. "I guess I can use an old nickname of mine, not that any of you will recognize it."

"Remnant, call me Remnant." 

Somewhere inside the group of trembling students, a boy with purple hair froze.

"And like I said before, this is where the world you know ends" Remnant launched back into his speech "Heroes and Villains, black and white, isn't that just a frustrating way to see the world?"

"We see heroes as paragons of good, angels and gods that can't do anything wrong! When in reality…" the weight over Endeavor's chest grew "they are the lowest of the low."

“They parade around their title thinking that it makes them untouchable, like they could get away with anything.” While their eyes were hidden, everyone present could still feel how they pierced through them all “How many people have been wronged by these heroes only to be ignored by the world just because all of you couldn’t accept the idea of them doing wrong?”

“And oh the villains! those evil and murderous villains!” Remnant wailed, anger clear in their voice “Don’t make me laugh! How many of you here have been called monstrous!? How many of you were bullied for having a ‘Villainous’ quirk!?” many of the people and students flinched “All of you that are here are the lucky ones, the ones that managed to grasp that silver straw, so what do you think happens to those who didn’t make it!?”

A girl with golden roots and green hair raises a trembling hand up to her mouth, not from fear but from the horrible realization that dawned upon her. Memories of a park fromages ago resurfaces in her mind, the days spent with a mask of a perfect little girl come rushing back. And a freckled face.

She makes eye contact with the purple haired boy, a similar look in his eyes.

“Discrimination for something that you couldn’t control, persecution for something that should be seen as a gift.” Remnant’s voice is strained, anger, sadness and a thousand more emotions swirl around his words “People who are left behind by the world and left with no other options, those are the villains you despise so much!”

“This failure of a system is only worth pumping out heroes and villains for its own sake, bringing with it a never ending cycle of misery, which is why…” Remnant raised his hand “I will break all of it.” They snapped their fingers.

UA went up in flames.

The sky was suddenly painted orange as the once outstanding High School became nothing but rubble, the aftermath caught up to them in no time. The force of the explosion sent everyone to the ground and the deafening roar that came after made the world fall into silence.

Even so, everyone’s eyes were locked on the only standing person, Remnant, as their dark figure stood out with the unimaginable sight. A deep and all-consuming dread began to slowly rise in all of their stomachs as they slowly came to realize just who it was they were looking at.

“Good, Good!” Remnant, as if he didn’t know or care about the horrified expressions, just clapped his hands “Take a good look! this is the scene I wanted you all to witne-”

DETROIT SMASH!!!

Remnant could barely get a word out before receiving a massive fist on the gut and thrown right back up into the air with the shock-wave letting out the sound of a shotgun.

Everyone watched the stunning figure of the number one hero, not a trace of a smile on his face but the seething rage in his glowing blue eyes.

For a second, a seed of hope bloomed in everyone's chests as they saw the body of Remnant fly into the sky.

“Hello All Might.”

Until it was thoroughly crushed by the voice coming from the speakers.

“I was wondering when you were going to come” Once more, as if there was a wall to stop him, Remnant stayed floating in the air “Did you enjoy my little firework show?”

“ You… ” In a heated voice All Might glared “ You are with him, aren’t you? ”

“With him? Who are you talking about?” Remnant feigned ignorance “Could you possibly mean… All For One ?”

The reaction was instantaneous, grinding his teeth even harder All Might had heard enough and jumped after the villain, shooting into the sky like a rocket, sadly even with his speed and strength All Might still lack the ability to truly fly so for Remnant, who could seemingly walk on air, it was a trivial task to dodge.

“ Who are you!? Did he send you!? ” All Might barked, anger clouding his mind as he focused on the multi-quirk villain.

Remnant only clicked his tongue “Fine, fine, I’ll answer your questions, it's an insult to me if you think that I am on that man’s side.”

Slowly, Remnant descended from the sky still floating a few meters above the ground. “Make sure to listen well, I’m not going to repeat myself.” taking a hold of their cowl “Burn this into your minds…”

Stark white curls fell over his green eyes, freckles covered most of his face while a strange black crack crawled over his cheek and over his left eye.

All Might’s anger disappeared like a flame being snuffed out and instead replaced by a heavy weight in his stomach.

In the group of student’s that hadn’t run away yet, Himiko fell to her knees, her face having turned pale, tears forming at the corner of her eyes and an unfulfilled promise echoing inside her head.

Not far away was Shinsou who was trying to wrap his head around everything, his thoughts were a mess, so much was happening that he could barely hold himself up.

“I’m Izuku Shigaraki,” Izuku introduced himself “the UA traitor and All For One’s son.”

He didn’t move his eyes from the All Might,he couldn’t bring himself to look at his classmates, would they be angry? sad? betrayed? He didn’t want to know, he had already made up his mind about the plan and so far in it he wasn’t going to falter.

“I used to work for my father alongside Tomura” a scowl formed on his face “but after that brat took that gamble with the USJ I realized that I would never accomplish my goals if I stayed working with them.” Izuku’s tone of voice was calm as if he hadn't just dropped the reveal of the century.

“So now I’m here, working for myself.” Izuku causally shrugged as he finally touched ground “So don’t take this personally.”

“Y-young Mid-” All Might couldn’t finish as black and green sparks took over his vision and it was his turn to be thrown as Izuku’s fist connected, sending him flying through the concrete wall of the stadium.

Izuku shook his hand, even with his injury, that man felt like a thick wall of steel. “I’ll say it once more, I’m going to dismantle this society. Heroes, villains, I’ll break this stupid game of chess.”

Everyone could only helplessly watch as the teenager jumped away, leaving behind his chaos and the stunned heroes and students.

===

The news didn’t take long to spread, the festival was televised worldwide after all.

Every news channel was already talking about the new terrorist threat known as Izuku Shigaraki, classifying him as the second villain in the world to obtain the SS threat rank, only after the now known All For One.

But it wasn’t only fear that his speech inspired.

In the small minority of people, those that were shunned away by the world and abandoned, they clung to the name of Remnant in the hope of a world that accepted them.

Growing courageous, these people began to protest, asking for answers from the heroes who left them. Surprisingly, one of the people leading one of these protests was a very familiar lizard-like young man.

Izuku smiled down at his phone, watching article after article villainize him, everything was going perfectly. Now all he needs to do is take down the kings on both sides of the board.

“Midoriya” Izuku crushed his phone, couldn’t let anyone track him with that.

“It’s Shigaraki now, Eraserhead” Izuku turned to look at his old teacher, the animal director in his scarf “I don’t want to bring my mom into this”

“Sorry…” Nezu jumped out of the scarf and patted down his fancy suit. “Well, the first step is done, I’ve already erased any traces of Izuku Midoriya, your birth certificate, any of your school applications and any other small file with your name, you’ve basically become a ghost.”

Izuku bowed “Thank you very much, and I apologize again for blowing up your school.”

Nezu raised a paw “If it's for the greater good than it has already done its job,” there was a glint of excitement in his small black eyes “and after all, I’m going to be promoted, aren’t I?”

Izuku chuckled, ever the opportunist. “Yes, I promised to leave the reconstruction to your capable paws after all.”

“And we got what you asked for.” Aizawa pulled a small piece of paper out of his scarf. “It’s her jail number, it took me a lot of connections to get it.”

Izuku gratefully took the paper with a smile “Are you sure she is going to help?” Aizawa asked, not entirely convinced about the woman.

“Yes, don’t worry.” Green and black spark began to surround now that he had his destination. “Even with these powers, I can’t be in two places at once and she is the best candidate for taking down the Hero Commision.”

In a dark cell deep within the thick walls of Tartarus, a woman with short dark purple and pink hair lies, completely unaware of the situation on the outside world.

“After all, they have quite the history together.”

Chapter Text

The air was heavy.

How could it not be with what had happened recently? 

No one in the room dared to break the tension, worried that the silent beast sitting next to them would hurt them.

"We… we need to talk about what happened." All Might bit the bullet.

Sitting together in a large quiet office were most of the heroes that were present as guards for what was supposed to be the sports festival sitting around a table. All of them had a dark look over their faces, most of them were intact, only Endeavor and Mountain Lady with a few bandages while Midnight was still in the hospital.

Aizawa and Hizashi were both with Midnight while Nezu was… doing something, with UA gone they weren't sure about what that rat had in mind.

Then there were the two visitors.

A shifting and clearly uncomfortable Himiko and a silent glaring Inko. 

"What is there to talk about?" Endeavor barked "That villain already confessed to everything, instead of hiding here we should be out there going after that- Ugh!" The hero suddenly stopped as he held his side, a terrible pain making him fold like a chair.

Everyone carefully looked at Inko who simply had a finger raised.

"My son is no villain Endeavor and I would prefer it if you didn't call him that" her voice was cold and sharp as a knife as she let go of the man's kidney with her quirk, a slight warning on her part.

All Might cleared his throat so as to bring the attention back to him worried for his fellow hero, after all hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"Yes, Young Midoriya has expressed some… outlandish claims but had the evidence to back them so I am obligated to ask…" All Might looked directly at the mother "Is your husband truly All For One?"

Silence reigned once more as everyone kept their eyes on the two of them.

Inko sighed, a dejected look on her face.

"I am not sure" she explained "I did think Hisashi was an extravagant man when we first met but nothing he did made me think he was a villain, no less the worst of them all"

"And now, I haven't even seen or heard of him for more than fifteen years so if it wasn't for the money he sent us, I would have thought he was dead."

"So you didn't know" summarizes Snipe and Inko nods.

"I… I really don't know what we can do with this" Ectoplasm said "UA is gone, Midoriya is somewhere out there and the people are split, this is a situation like no other."

"Let's pretend that the whole 'Being AFO's kid' is a lie, he still attacked a public event, put in danger the life of a hero and even stated that he will cause more damage," Cementoss explained "the kid is already a world class criminal with just that alone."

Everyone fell silent. A storm brewing inside their minds as they tried to think about how to deal with the situation.

"Izuku isn't- he wouldn't…" the heroes looked at the tongue-tight girl with pity. "My brother wouldn't do this. Something must have happened, someone must be doing something to him, he-"

"Himiko" All Might stopped her, pain clear in her eyes "I know this situation is hard for you, it's hard on all of us, but Midoriya has thrown the glove, now it's our turn to answer."

Himiko could only grit her teeth "No, he wouldn't, he isn't a villain!" Her words were shaky, hands curled into tight fists from anger, she couldn't believe that these heroes were talking about her brother like this.

"Dear, it's okay" her mother tried to calm her down, a hand gently placed on her trembling shoulder "We'll find a way to help Izuku and-"

"You don't get it!" She snapped, pushing the hand away and standing up, warm angry tears in her eyes "I promised him that I would protect him! that I wouldn't let this happen!" Her voice bounced around the four walls of the room.

"Himiko, what do you-"

"He's the kindest person I've ever met! He's my hero and my brother," Himiko's eyes glowed gold as her throat burned "so I'm not going to sit here and listen to you talk about him like this! If you're not going to do anything then I will!" The girl then stormed out of the room, All Might and Inko standing up ready to go after her-

Ring Ring

The sound of a phone freezes everyone and they look at the source.

Inko's bag.

She grabbed it only intending to reject the call, but at the sight of the name, her hands froze.

"It's…" she hesitated. "It's Hisashi."

Everyone looked at eachother, panic clear in their faces until Toshinori raised a hand and nodded.

Inko, with shaky fingers, answered the call.

===

Tomura was screaming something but he didn't hear him, his mind was somewhere else entirely.

For the first time in years, Hisashi was stumped.

He had been listening to UA's obnoxious festival hoping to find a clue on who All Might could have given his quirk to or even find this Glitch character Tomura had raved about for days.

Instead, he is slapped in the face by the reveal that his son is in UA, then a second hit came with the fact that apparently he had a quirk now (multiple of them apparently) and as to finish him off, his son announced both his partnership with him and it's sudden break up while taking the family name with him, all in the span of a few minutes.

"-him! That's Glitch, but what does he mean!? We had a mole in UA!? Since when??? Why did-" 

"Silence" his voice cut Tomura's mad rambling "just… just continue with the plan, I'll take care of this."

"But Sensei-" 

"I have given you an order Tomura, " AFO spoke, his voice cold. " you will follow it."

Shigaraki flinched and reluctantly nodded as the video cut off.

Hisashi took a deep breath, there was only one thing to do but he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to do it.

Slowly, he pulled to him the phone in his room and by heart dialed a number he hasn't called in years.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

Thrice.

And he was scared that she wouldn't answer.

(Scared.)

(It's fitting that his wife is the one to remind him how that feels.)

The call goes through.

…

Silence comes from both sides, each of the adults waiting for the other to start.

"I-Inko…" he swings and misses as his words get caught in his throat.

"Hisashi" she coldy greets him back, which, he will admit, deserves.

"Have you… watched the uh, news lately?" What is wrong with him?

"Everyone on the planet has seen the news dear" she jabs back "so, do you have something to say?"

Okay, so she is angry and she is in all of her right to be, this news would rattle even the greatest of saints, so what does he do?

"I can hear you think from over here, don't even try lying because so help me god I will find you myself and drag you all the way here to explain." It may sound like an empty threat but for Hisashi, it was a very real and dangerous promise.

She could very easily steal the declaration of independence of she so put her mind to it.

"..." He didn't want to answer, god, he wishes he could just lie. Tell her that it's fine, that it's a misunderstanding, to reassure her.

But he can't.

Even through her anger, he can still hear the motherly worry she had for their son.

His facade had been suddenly smashed to pieces by his son and it had left him vulnerable, floundering around like a fish.

"... I'm sorry"

And that was all he could say.

"You…" He could hear how she grinded her teeth "what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, I have no clue how Izuku even found out about me." He attempted to explain himself but Inko's anger was a bright fire that wouldn't be put out easily.

"But he does, and he even has your quirk, so congratulations, you always said how you wanted him to be more like you!"

"This isn't what I wanted!"

"Well this is now! Whatever it is that you are doing as the legendary boogie man has placed both of our children in extreme danger!"

"I- wait, did you say children? As in plural?" Last time he checked, he only had Izuku, although that was when he was born so it's not a good measure.

Inko huffed "Yes, plural, we have a daughter. I told you this in my voicemails."

"..."

"Have you not been listening to my voicemails!?"

He quickly checked and- Good god!

"You have 4858 missed messages"

"God, I did not know it could count that high."

"I've been calling you almost daily and you've never heard a single one of them!?" Inko barked at him.

“I’ve been busy!”

“Busy controlling the underworld I bet!”

“This is getting us nowhere” Hisashi huffed, trying to bring the conversation back “I… I'm sorry." He apologized, it's all he could do now. "I didn't want any of this, I wanted so badly to be a family with you and Izuku but that bastard All Might ruined it all."

"I just… I wish things didn't have to be like this." When was the last time he was this vulnerable? When was it that he had last thought about his family? When did he lose himself? "We could have been happy…"

With the truth now in the air none of them spoke, so much happened and if it was in any other situation they could have been able to sit down and talk but it was hard coming to terms with something like this.

“We interrupt this scheduled program to inform you of urgent news about Remnant”

The sudden news broadcast caught everyone off guard and at the same time, while in the completely opposite sides of the city, mother and father let out a heavy sigh.

“Izuku, no.”

===

Tartarus is a lot bigger than Izuku imagined. He never really got the chance to see it in person before it was torn apart and knowing that it had even more levels underneath the ground only made it that more of an impressive prison.

Sadly for them, Izuku is here for someone and their little guns are not going to stop him.

"Again, we could be saving so much time if we just blew the place up" his father unhelpfully added.

"For the last time, we aren't blowing the max security prison open!" First answered.

"Oh come on, it's a good plan, I did it and it worked perfectly!" 

Izuku ignored the two bickering brothers and focused on the prison. The front door was a thick metal door, guarding it were a platoon worth of guards, some holding guns while others had their hands free most likely people whose quirks are better than weapons.

"Do we have any stealth quirks?" He asked AFO.

His copy mimicked flipping through a book "Hmm, sadly we don't, neither do we have any appearance changing ones, best we have is Smokescreen"

That complicates things, he can't use too much of his strength since he doesn't want to actually break the place and let the people inside out but if he doesn't deal with the guards then his way in and out will be even more troublesome.

“Guess there’s only one thing left to do” Standing up from his crouching position, he stretched his back and wiggled his legs.

“And that would be?” Nana asked with a raised eyebrow.

Izuku, now that he had fully connected with his rebellious quirk, had the knowledge of at least two hundred years so the exact word he needed, one lost to the sands of time, came to him instantly as sparks began flying off him.

“I’m going to speedrun this shit.”

…

At the front gate of Tartarus, two guards stood together, one was an old man while the other a younger man.

“Hey,” the young man began, “what do you… think about Remnant?”

The old man shivered, just the name of the new villain sent a shiver down his skin, the raw strength he had shown was terrifying. “Why the question?”

“Just… wondering.” the young man confesses “What he said, what if… what if he’s right?”

“All the bad guys think they’re right.” the old man shook his head.

“Well it's just, don’t we also have some heroes in here too?” the young one continued “Doesn’t that mean he’s partially right? that even heroes can do wrong? Who's to say that even villains can’t be good?”

“Let’s… let’s not talk about that anymore”

“S-sorry.”

The old man stopped him not because he thought he was wrong but because his own thoughts had begun to go the same way, his own ideas of the world were challenged and his position did give him a slight glimpse into the other side of the world, something that he had been trying to ignore.

The thick mist of the night rolled around their ankles and began making it hard to see, it was becoming so thick that one might even call it smoke.

…

…

Wait a second, they are in the middle of the city, how is there-

“All Units, we have an unknown approaching at our six” the message that came through their radios put all of them on edge as they turned to look.

A dark figure slowly walked towards them, the strange smoke following behind them as if they were bringing it. All the soldiers pointed their guns at them and the quirk users got into position.

“Identify yourself, this is your first warning!!”

The figure stopped and so did the mist, except it didn’t stop growing.

Like the waves in the ocean pulling back, the smoke only grew more and more in size behind the stranger as if held back by an invisible wall.

“Stop your quirk and identify yourself, last warning!”

Slowly, the stranger raised their hand, the light of the moon making something silver shined on it, and the smoke became more agitated as if excited.

“S-sir..” the young guard stuttered as his hand trembled “I- I know who that is…”

“What?” Only then did the old man notice the boy's eyes shining gold, he had forgotten about his coworker’s quirk, it was simply night vision but out of everyone he would be one of the few that could easily see the stranger “Who is it?”

“It’s… its…”

“Spit it out lad!”

The stranger closed his hand.

“It’s Remnant.”

All the smoke surged forward and the soldiers fired, their bullets flying and becoming lost in the thick smoke that rushed in to cover them from head to toe. Orders were coming through the radio on their uniform but with their sight completely lost they soon fell into disarray.

As if it wasn’t enough, through the smoke sometimes they could see a faint green light that was soon followed by a scream, the guards all turned to try and find their assailant but it was useless as every second another one of them was taken by something into the smoke.

The old guard had no time to react as two glowing green orbs took over his view and the feeling of a hand on his chest, the next second pain bloomed over his back as Remnant had easily pinned him to the ground and knocked him out.

With now all of them out of the way, the guards were unable to stop the villain from reaching the door and sinking his fingers into ten inches of metal that he easily moved to the side like paper.

…

You know those old, forgotten games that were about running through a bunch of obstacles while collecting coins? that would paint a clear picture of how Izuku is dealing with the small corridors of the prison.

The metal under his shoes skidded across the floor as he turned another corner and he dashed forward, three more guards in front of him.

They fired their guns but Izuku simply jumped onto the wall and bounced onto one of the guards chest, sending them flying down the hall and using Blackwhip to easily deal with the last two before disappearing in a flash.

He needed to make this quick since while he could deal with these guards it would be annoying having to deal with a whole army of heroes while trying to get Nagant out of this place, to his luck she was being kept in the fourth underground floor so he still had a bit more to go.

Any of the villains that saw him take down the guards tried calling out to him to get them out of here but Izuku didn’t even give them a glance, he didn’t need to get any souvenirs.

The further down he went, the better equipped the guards were, now he was looking at two guards with riot gear and one of them had his hands covered in electricity.

“Wonder how much these guys are paid to work here.” Hisashi wondered as he watched Izuku break one of their helmets with a punch.

“To guard the supposedly worst of the worst must be a very well paid job, I don’t see anyone doing that without a good nine or even ten digit paycheck” Third answered.

“Well they can use that money to pay for their hospital villains after this.” Second added as he glanced at the guy Izuku had made into abstract art on the wall.

Taking a shortcut, Izuku jumped between the space in the stairwell, surprising the guards that were rushing up them. Only a little more and he would reach her.

He jumped and flipped in the air to land on his hands and used Overhaul to create multiple walls of stone to gain more time from his pursuers, they could break them down but it would take them more than a couple of hours.

He only slowed down as he reached a particular metal door, to its side he could see a hand reader that could most likely only recognize some of the people of higher grade in this prison, definitely a pain to get through.

Izuku used Overhaul and made the door fall apart.

“What the fuck!?” a tall woman with short purple and pink hair cursed as she was startled by his sudden appearance.

“Hello Miss Tsutsumi, came in for a little visit!” he happily greeted her as she looked at him with bewilderment.

“Who- What- Why-” Seeing an unknown child destroy her cell door was a big shock for her and it didn’t help that he was acting like they were old friends.

“That’s a lot of questions but sadly we don’t really have the time for answers” He looked at the trembling wall that he had built, looks like they are really excited to get him, he walked into her cell and she immediately reacted by jumping onto her feet and she gave him a cold and sharp glare, he had no doubt that even with those thick quirk-restraining cuffs she could easily defend herself.

But he’s something else entirely.

Before she could blink, he had his hands around the cuffs and with a touch turned them into scrap, again catching her off guard.

“There we go, those must have been really uncomfortable, right?” he smiled at her, amused at her own confusion as she rubbed her sore wrists.

“You, who are you?”

“Right, you guys don’t have any connection to the outside, then I’ll make it quick” Izuku turned around as the wall he had made finally fell apart and the guards began to rush at them, red glowing lines began to cover his body and ominous green and black sparks jumped off him as he calmly faced the army of guards.

“My name is Izuku Shigaraki but my friends call me Remnant.”

Izuku disappeared in a green blur before a guard was suddenly punched into the ground, another was consumed by blue flames and another three turned into a human skewer by a black tentacle.

Kaina could only watch as all the guards were torn apart by what seemed to be an invisible force, the boy moved at an incredible speed that if it wasn’t because of her trained eye she wouldn’t even be able to see his afterimage.

Before she knew it, it was over and she and a blood covered Izuku were the only ones left in the hallway, he continued to smile at her even as he stretched out a bloody hand.

“I am the son of All For One, and you are the treacherous hero- The lovely Lady Nagant. It's an honor to meet you.”

“All For One…” She looked at the red scene before her and recalled the multiple quirks the boy had used. He might not be lying. “There was a time when he was my target.” she tested the waters, unsure of what this boy wanted with her.

“Too bad you couldn’t get him, it would have made my life easier.” the boy lamented. “But that’s nor here or now, I wanted to talk to you about a proposal I had”

“I know what it is that you want.” his red pupils dug into her as if they already knew her secrets “You’ve killed heroes all on orders of the then-President of the Public Safety Commission, and then, when you reached your breaking point you killed him in return.”

She couldn't stop her eyes from widening, she knew that they had changed the public story and that even if the truth got out after so long it would have been twisted until a thousand different versions existed and yet, this boy managed to get it down to a T.

“You were used as an example so that heroes wouldn’t disobey them.” A wild smile spread across his face “We share a similar goal, you seek the downfall of hero society but you can't do it alone, so that is where I come in.”

“Come with me, and I promise you that we’ll deal a death blow to those arrogant heroes.” she looked at his hand, if she took it she was sure that in some way she would be selling her soul to the devil, but she had already made that deal with the HPSC so another one wouldn’t mean anything.

She took his hand, ignoring the familiar feeling of sticky blood on her skin or the rusty smell of it filling her nose, his smile widened. “I hope you know my services don’t come cheap.”

“Oh don’t worry, I have more than enough to pay you, but first…” Izuku looked at the claustrophobic prison “we’ll have to get out of here.”

Taking charge he easily picked her up before dashing forward again at a breakneck speed but even so, more guards came their way so Izuk looked at Nagant.

“Think you can take care of them?”

The only answer he got was of three consecutive shots being fired over his shoulder with three guards falling down now with a hole on their heads. He chuckled at her display, perfect accuracy even at this speed, she was the right decision after all.

The duo basically flew through the passages of the prison as the deadliest moving sniper Nagant quickly took care of any guard that tried to approach them with a single shot while Izuku focused on dodging and moving forward, it was a spectacle to die for.

Bursting right back out from the hole he had made, Izuku was glad to see that the people he had knocked out were still on the ground, the bad news were the multiple helicopters above them and the nearing police sirens which no doubt were being followed by heroes.

Kaina clicked her tongue at the bright light “Are we running or taking them down?”

“Let them watch, they need to know who to fear, who to call the bad guy” his words confused him but she couldn’t ask any further as he began to run on the air.

The helicopters tried to keep chasing but Izuku’s speed easily outmatched them so it wasn’t long before they lost them and landed on a nearby rooftop where two figures were waiting.

Kaina immediately pointed her rifle at the suit wearing animal and hobo but Izuku raised a hand “Settle down Kaina, they are with me.” with one last glare she pulled her rifle back.

“Looks like you did it.” the white rat said while looking at Lady Nagant, Izuku gave him a cocky smile “Were you doubting me?”

“Of course not, I was just surprised at how fast it was.”

“She’s still glaring at us, are you not going to introduce us?” Aizawa interjected.

“Right,” Izuku turned to her once more “like I said, these two are my companions,” he pointed at the tired man “this is Aizawa Shouta, otherwise known as Eraserhead”

“A hero?” she asked as her glare got even worse.

“Yes, but I’m on Izuku’s side here and I already made a deal to help so I won’t tell anyone about you or him.” Aizawa explained but he could still feel the animosity from the woman.

Izuku continued trying to change the mood “And this here is Nezu, he is the smartest person alive and was the director of UA.”

Kaina knew about UA, when she was younger she had wanted to join like any other kid but ‘was’? why in the past?

Izuku could seemingly read the confusion on her face as he signaled Aizawa and the hero pulled out his phone and passed it over to her as an old news broadcast played, her eyes widened in surprise at the reveal of the young villain and the subsequent explosion of what might be a pillar of society.

This showed her that he was serious about taking the heroes down but there was something there that she wanted to ask “You not only mentioned heroes, but villains too, are you really planning to take both sides on?”

Izuku smiled as he took the phone back. “Sure am, after all, no side is truly on the right, both have their pros and cons but neither will give me the ending I want.” his eyes turned sharp “So I’ll burn my own path and I won’t stop no matter what.”

Nagant fell silent, she could clearly hear the unbreakable determination in his voice and after what he had shown her in the short amount of time that they had met, she had a feeling that he might actually be able to do it.

“And what happens if I refuse?” she asked, she was out of that prison,something that was thought impossible, she had a new chance.

“Nothing, you could walk away and live your new life.” Izuku simply shrugged “But, if we meet each other again and you try to stop me, now that is another story.” She knew a threat when she heard one.

She stayed quiet for a while, deliberating on her options.

Before a chuckle escaped her lips

“You really are insane, but I like that.” She gave him a confident smile. “I’ll introduce myself properly this time. I’m Kaina Tsutsumi, the killer known as Lady Nagant, and it's great to be working with you, Remnant.”

===

Himiko carefully dropped to the ground doing her best to make as little noise as possible as to not wake up her mom, which was hard since she had to hold onto the metallic suitcase that held her hero suit.

The moon was clear in the sky and it had long been after the bitter reunion the heroes had with her and her mom but even Inko Midoriya could not fight against a mountain worth of stress and fell asleep the second she relaxed.

But while Himiko was just as stressed, she couldn’t sleep, not until she dragged that white haired idiot back home.

She gave her home one last look as she swallowed her indecision and began to walk into the city determined to go and save her brother, after all, isn’t that why she had One For All?

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” a sudden voice startled her and she turned back only to be shocked by the three boys that looked at her.

“Bakugo, what are you guys doing here?” she asked as she looked at the blonde.

“What do you think, Fangs? Same shit as you” he then raised his own metal suitcase, the UA symbol on it, next to him Shinsou and Todoroki did the same. “We’re all going after Izuku.”

“Wha- why are you guys going after him? He’s my idiotic brother.” she had convinced herself that she would need to do this all on her own so this had completely caught her off guard.

“He showed me a path to escape my self imposed cage and begin to move on my own without the shackles of my family.” Todoroki answered.

“He managed to save me from my abusive home while giving me a better life than I could have ever imagined for myself and even gave me a chance to prove myself as a hero, I owe him my life.” Shinsou passionately said.

“And he’s my idiot best friend, your excuse ain’t any better.” Bakugo added.

She was taken aback, these three talked about Izuku with a steel conviction and looked as if they were ready to fight for the opportunity to go after him, in a strange way she felt relieved, she was glad that her brother had managed to make such close friends.

The three were ready to answer back any objections the girl gave them as she looked at them but she gave them a grateful smile “Well, if you’re that motivated, then I won’t stop you but you better keep up, got it?” she turned around and began to walk.

“The one who needs to keep up is you Cat eyes.” Bakugo grinned as he and the others moved next to her, the four of them moved through the night with a newly lit flame inside them, they were going to get their friend back, whether he wanted to or not.

Chapter Text

“-and after the recent incident at Tartarus the villain, Remnant, has-”

Click .

“-at least a hundred injured said that they can’t use at least one of their limbs!-”

Click .

“-The only cell that was tampered with, what does Remnant want with the killer Lady Na-”

Click .

“They’re all talking about you.” The lovely Lady Nagant, or Kaina Tsutsumi, changed channel after channel, most occupied by news talking about her new boss(?). 

“Any fun theories?” Izuku asked, looking over his shoulder from adjusting his gear.

“One of them did say something about you doing this all for me from the way you broke me out of prison." Izuku only laughed.

“That’s only slightly right, they’re just thinking too small.” Kaina watched as he got back to his gear. Izuku Shigaraki is a headache, that’s the best way she can put it and it was only before he told her about the whole time traveling business, something she isn’t sure if she completely believes yet.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked as Izuku put his gauntlet on.

"It's rather simple." Izuku turned towards her. "Obviously if we want to be able to make a new society we need to get rid of the others who would try to take control after the chaos we cause."

"All For One and the Hero Association." When she answered, Izuku nodded.

"Those are the big players but there's another group, they keep to themselves but their followers are nothing to scoff at." He grabbed a photo from the wall and passed it to her, it was an image of a man in a suit, their most prominent feature was their large pointy nose and the odd spots on his face.

"They call themselves the Meta Liberation Army, led by Rikiya Yotsubashi otherwise known as Re-Destro." Izuku explained. "He's our other target."

Kaina pursed her lips. "Looks simple enough, a penetration bullet should do good for him." But Izuku shook his head.

"No, if we take down Re-Destro like that then his subordinates will just take over, we need to take them all down and do it with a show of power, only then will they admit defeat."

"Hmm." Nagant hummed as she thought about it. "So if we put it together, how's it going to look?" She handed the picture back to him.

"Rather straightforward." Izuku moved to a large wall that he had started to fill with photos, red string and newspaper articles. "First, we need to take down AFO's successor, that's the easy part, after that I want to take down Muscular who's been rampaging around the city recently, taking advantage of the chaos I've caused to reveal himself."

"Why him? Feels out of place compared to everything else."

"Oh that one is personal." His words were sharp as a blade and ominous green sparks jumped from his fists, she didn't ask any further.

"Then we can focus on Re-Destro together." She passed over the image and he placed it back on his plan wall. "We raid their base, shout out our ideals and bring them down. We'll get rid of the competition and put more eyes on us, two birds with one stone."

"After that I would need to catch One For All's successor and take their quirk, that one might get complicated." Izuku looked at the newspaper articles with the headline 'Four UA students go missing!' followed along with pictures of his sister, Todoroki, Bakugo and Shinsou.

"Lastly, we will split up so you can take care of the Hero Association and I All For One, where we will both make our exit off the stage and the rest is up to Nezu."

"You know, I've never had to fake my own death, I hope it's fun." Her joke managed to get a laugh out of the boy, he looked so relaxed despite the fact he was making himself public enemy number one.

She knew he was doing all of this for the benefit of his friends which didn't sit right with her because everytime she looked at him all she could see was herself.

A young girl with the stars in her eyes ready to do anything to be a hero, pulled too thin until she snapped. And she wasn't sure if Izuku had already snapped or not.

She pushed herself off the couch she had been on and moved next to Izuku, she places her hand on his head and ruffles his hair getting her an odd look from him.

"Alright then, where are we going first?"

===

Tomura couldn't help but scratch at his neck as his thoughts kept racing in his head. Did they always have a mole? If so then why wasn't he informed!? And who does he dare call a brat!!

"Tomura." Kurogiri's deep voice brings him back to reality, the pure yellow eyes looking at him without any emotion. "It's almost time."

Right, his mission. Spread the Nomu's around the city, but…

"Did you know?" His voice comes out raspy as he addresses the pile of smoke. "Did you know about Remnant?" There's clear anger in his words but the intelligent Nomu doesn't react.

Kurogiri just shakes his head. "No, but it is no surprise that the master has his own secrets." Tomura scoffs at this, he should know those secrets, didn't he say that he was going to be his successor!?

He needed something to distract himself, so he turned to the multiple lines of Nomu's that were awaiting his orders. That'll do.

"Open the gate." Kurogiri nodded as his body expanded and swirled in the air, he could feel his hands itch in irritation, maybe he'll join in on the destruction too.

Crossing the gate, he finds himself up above the sleeping city standing on the tallest building for the best view. "Hello Japan, a beautiful night isn't it?"

"And it's only going to get better." The Nomu slowly lumbered out of the portal behind him as he raised his arms up. "Make sure to go into the night with a beautiful cry for me to hea-"

"Booooo! You sound like an eight-grader!"

"Who said that!?" He turned around so fast that his neck cracked but he ignored it as he pointed at the main criminal himself. "You!!"

"Hello Tomura." Izuku gave the man-child a lazy wave. "Here to play with your pets?" He nodded at the Nomu.

"You bastard! Do you know the headache you have caused us!?" Tomura couldn't help but scream now that he had the one who had been a thorn in his side in front of him. "And you did a speech too!"

"Mine was much cooler."

"Irrelevant! Kill him!" The villain pointed at the white haired menace and three hulking Nomu dashed forward ready to tear him apart.

Izuku only chuckled. "That's no good, you need to keep your dogs on a leash or else…"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang through the air, and three heads exploded into red gore.

"They get put down." Izuku's smile widened at Tomura's confusion.

The three new corpses dropped to the ground like sacks of bricks as blood gushed out of their necks like broken faucets. "What!? Who did that!?" Tomura roared in anger.

"You were right." A voice said above them, a figure slowly descended from the sky and gracefully landed next to Izuku, her purple and pink hair moving in the wind. "He is loud."

"Who the hell is this!? 

"Surprised, Tomura?" Izuku tilted his head to the side, his voice slow and soft as if he was talking to a baby. "Did you really think that you were the only one who could bring teammates along?"

The villain began to frantically scratch at his neck, jagged nails digging into his skin. "Shit shit shit! You were supposed to be some cannon fodder NPC, how the fuck did you turn into such a problem!?"

Izuku shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "What can I say, I've always been a problem child."

Bang!

"Ugh!"

Kaina acted faster than any of the villains could react and a bullet flew cutting the air, Tomura flinched and dodged to the side on instinct only to realize that the bullet had not been for him.

Behind him, Kurogiri fell to their knees as they clutched at their damaged collar as their mist form expanded and contorted, the portal the Nomus had been using closed, bisecting the one that had been crossing it.

"The best way to win a fight is to target the support first, right?" Tomura growled as he lunged for the younger boy, hands outstretched as he tried to grab at him.

Izuku, for his part, looked not like a man about to be turned to dust but like a disappointed teacher watching a child throw a tantrum. Tomura ended up swiping at nothing as Izuku easily dodged the large swipe.

Filled with rage, the hand-covered villain continued his assault noting how their female partner didn't seem to have any interest in them and kept her eyes on Kurogiri.

That's fine, he can deal with a 1v1.

Tomura, with his lanky body, was deceptively fast and flexible after having been trained since little, knowing how to move to try and grab his enemy without them noticing or when they least expected it.

The problem was that he was fighting Remnant.

The white haired youth easily dodged or blocked his every move. He sidesteps when he tries to grab his arm, ducks when he throws a kick at his head and even jumps out of the way when he turns the roof to dust, it felt like the worst game of cat and mouse.

While for Izuku this felt… rather sad.

Right in front of him was the person who had made three years of his life complete hell, the man who had once stood above all, who had torn and twisted his friends into beasts and forced him to put them out of their suffering.

The two of them stood glaring at each other, the battlefield silent apart from the distant screams of their own soldiers, heroes and Nomus battling it out behind them.

Shigaraki smiled, a wild and wide one that showed his teeth and fangs, as he looked down at Midoriya. His long pale blue hair gave way for his malice filled red eyes to shine from the light of the fire around them.

Izuku glared right back, nothing but cold anger in his dim green eyes as his hold on the yellow scarf around his neck tightened. His knuckles cracked as he stretched his hand, his support equipment battered and scratched but still holding on.

Both men held pieces of history, two fragments of an ungodly whole.

Shigaraki's body bulged and contorted as muscles and bones grew, metal spikes protruding out of his body, black energy moving around him like snakes.

Izuku pulled down his mask as his body was engulfed in blinding green lightning, pure energy running through his veins as Blackwhip shot out of his back like a spider, smoke beginning to trail behind him and Fajin begging to charge.

And only one would see tomorrow.

But now…

"Just stay still!!" The villain cried out, sweat running down their face as they jumped like a feral animal once more.

Their movement was basic, no strategy or even real danger in their attacks. He was more entertained by watching Nagant's fight.

The sniper gracefully jumped around in the air thanks to Air Walk, which he had given her, as she dodged another Nomu. Kurogiri lacked any actual attacks so instead he decided to send the nomus to fight her through his portals.

Sadly for him, he was fighting an expert. Kaina once more simply flipped in the air and raised her arm, a bang rang out and a body fell to the ground.

"Izuku." Nana's voice snapped him back to his fight only to find a panting Tomura glaring at him, he hadn't even used a quirk yet.

"Alright, that's enough Tenko." The villain snarled at the name.

"Don't call me that!"

"You can't win, even you should be able to see that." Izuku calmly said.

"Shut up! I just need one touch and I'll finally get rid of the bug!" He was losing it at this point, his words sounding more like an animal than a person.

Izuku could only sigh. "Let me put this in a way you'll understand." Green met red. "This is my New game+"

"...What?"

"I've already done all of this. I've already played this game and won. All of this," He gestures to the fallen Nomus, to the struggling Kurogiri, to him . "This is just me trying to get a better ending."

"I know who you are, your plans and motivations and at this point I've already grown to a point that you can't win, so please," just one last try, one last chance. "Just give up."

"..."

For a blissful second, Tomura stopped. His hands to his side as he stared at Izuku completely wide eyed, and he thought that maybe he was going to take the olive branch.

"Ha… hahaha… hahahahHAHAHAHA!!" 

Izuku frowned at Tomura's insane laughing fit.

"I get it now!" The villain screamed, his red eyes shining with glee. "All of this! Everything you are doing is to stop us!" He says as if it's the answer to everything.

"You are desperate! You went back in time because I won!" That simple fact makes his face light up. "I did it! I killed All Might and this entire stupid hero societ-"

Bam!

"Argh!" Tenko Shimura folded as Izuku's fist dug deep into his stomach, warm blood trickling down his arm as green lightning jumped around his arm.

"Y-you fuc-"

"Tenko Shimura." Izuku began. "You were the worst person I've ever met."

"You and the league made my life hell. You made me watch as I slowly lost everyone I ever cared for while you laughed above the ashes."

"Ugh!" Tenko grunts as Izuku twists his fist.

"You were the biggest threat the world had faced, destroying everything in your path." Forcing to push through the white hot pain clouding his mind, Tenko raises his hand and grabs Izuku's arm.

But nothing happens.

"And yet." In Izuku's grip, wrapped by invisible red strings, a small ball of gray light sinks into his body. "There was someone that always prayed that you would change."

"That somehow you would open your eyes and see the damage you had caused on yourself and others."

"Even now, she still feels guilty for not being able to be there for you when you need it." Izuku places a hand on Tenko's shoulder. "So know, Tenko Shimura, that you were loved."

Izuku pulled back his arm, blood dripping to the ground. Tenko's grip in his arm faltered as he tumbled back, only held up by Izuku. Unknown to him, Nana's ghost quietly cries over Izuku's shoulder.

His red eyes, already beginning to dim, locked onto his. "Fuck… you…" The words came out as a raspy last breath as his legs finally gave out underneath him.

And thus came the end of Tomura Shigaraki.

"Master Tomura!" Kurogiri screamed at the sight but was unable to do anything as all Nomu had been defeated and Lady Nagant had restrained him.

"Hey Oboro…" Izuku quietly said as he moved back to the struggling fog figure.

"I… I'm sorry, I still don't know how to fix you but I promise you that we'll find a way." His fingers elongated with black and red markings. "Soon you'll see everyone again, Aizawa, Hizashi and even Nemuri, so just… just sleep for a while." His fingers dug into Kurogiri but the pain didn't last as he soon fell unconscious.

Izuku took a deep breath as silence came back over them, his arm still dripping blood next to him.

Kaina looked at Izuku, their plan had gone perfectly, they killed the villain and captured the other one, they barely broke a sweat.

And yet he looked so tired. So used to it.

She hesitated as she slowly raised her arm, she wasn't going to lie and say she was good at this but she once fought to stop this, to stop children from being turned to the same killing machine she is.

But he is willingly walking down this path, and has already been in it for a long time. Someone that should have never been asked to carry a duty so heavy, who doesn't let so much of a single person see him cry.

So she reaches out, and even if it's not much, she softly places her hand on his back.

Right now, in the silence of the night, she is not a Pro hero, not a killer, not Lady Nagant; and he is not a Shigaraki, not a time traveler, not Remnant. She is Kaina Tsutsumi, the girl who tried to fight back against the system by herself because no one else would; and he is Izuku Midoriya, the child who despite everything still refuses to give up.

Right now, in the silence of the night, this is enough.

===

Aizawa glanced around at the other heroes present, the top ten and many after that were all here thanks to the urgency of the matter. Information about the main lab where the Nomu's are being made in Kamino was found thanks to Nezu's hacking, except that it was information Izuku gave them something only the two of them knew.

"Has everyone been informed as to why you are here?" All Might took the lead as the raid leader as there was apparently some information about Nomu's stronger than what they already faced.

The heroes gave a wave of affirmations. "Good, this here is supposedly the location of the main lab for All For One's human testing which is being led by a Doctor Garaki."

"The mission is simple, we will search and destroy any machine, document or Nomu we find and capture the scientist in the lab alive for later questioning." The heroes nodded. "We will split into teams and search the facility, you have all been given a communication device so if you ever need backup do not hesitate to use it."

"Is everything understood?" 

"Yes!" 

"Then I wish you all luck, and Plus Ultra!" With those final words, the raid began.

The building in front of them looked like any other apartment building, if only for the fact that the inside was completely empty. The entrance was as informed, underneath the building itself and the heroes didn't waste time breaking through.

The scientist that had been working that day panicked the moment the ceiling above them broke and the angry face of All Might came through the smoke.

None of them expected to fight the number one or any of the others so their first instinct was to run away into the deeper floors of the lab, surprisingly only one scientist stayed behind calmly looking at the heroes.

The man himself, Doctor Garaki.

"It seems that the jig is up." The doctor calmly stated, the sight of all the heroes seemingly meaning nothing to him.

"Did we underestimate you or…" the short man stroked his beard as a dangerous glint appeared in his eye. "Did I underestimate that child?"

"Hohoho." The doctor freely laughed even under the heavy glares of the pros. "This is the first time I've ever been outwitted by a child but I should expect nothing less from my master's son."

"These may not be finished yet but I am curious as to what they can do." The doctor pressed a button on the large console behind him as large tubes filled with liquid rose from the ground, inside were different types of Nomu's.

"So heroes…" the tubes let out a whistling hiss as the beasts inside opened their eyes. "Would you mind joining me for one last experiment?"

And the High-end Nomus were released.

Chapter Text

"After the Heroes raid in Kamino, our sources say that, while the perpetrators have been caught, the heroes took their own number of casualties. More than half of the heroes are injured, some worse than others but no accurate information on any critical injuries, we can only hope for their best."

"The citizens have begun to voice more of their own fears after the event since their heroes being injured provides place for the villains to act. One of them seems to already be taking ahead as pictures of Remnant and Lady Nagant fighting a pair of villains have been uploaded onto the internet."

"Remnant has stated before of his ideal of taking both heroes and villains to completely reform society, what this means for us in the future is still up for debate."

"Damn it…" Himiko quietly cursed as she turned the tv off. She fell back on the bed of her room and ran her hands through her hair as her thoughts mixed into a storm.

While glad to hear more of her brother, she wasn't thrilled to hear that it was about murder, on the other hand, she recognized the villain as the one that did the attack on the USJ so hooray to that.

But his actions nevertheless left many questions, why had he gone and released a prisoner from Tartarus, did he know her? Just how much had he kept secret from her? Why did he save her? Why bring her into his family?

All of these questions and only he could give her answer, it infuriated her to no end just how powerless she felt in this situation.

Knock knock.

A knock then came from her door, seizing her attention. "Himiko, it's us." Shinsou's voice came from the other side.

"Coming." She stood up and opened the door. Behind the purple haired boy stood Bakugo and Todoroki both frown, they must have seen the news too.

The four of them had rented rooms in a hotel to stay in while they tracked down Izuku, obviously using Endeavor's credit card that Todoroki stole.

"That idiot is only making things worse! Just what the hell is he thinking?!" Bakugo complained as he stormed in.

"The reform of society with Japan as an example." Todoroki helpfully answered.

"We know that; it's what he is doing that doesn't make sense." Shinsou intervened. "He's trying to take down both heroes and villains, something that's causing him the number one enemy in the world."

"He's destroyed UA and publicly declared war against the biggest power in the criminal underworld, the villains must be his next target, right?" Himiko asked.

They all stayed quiet as they thought of the situation.

"Nah, the heroes ain't done." Bakugo objected. "UA is a pillar of society, yes, but it's not what keeps the heroes together."

"Villains live in a might makes right mentality so they gather under the reign of the strongest, that being All For One." Shinsou continued the train of thought. "But heroes don't do that. That's why the rankings and all the laws exist, to show who is stronger but to also encourage them to do better."

"And who do we know controls the rankings?" Todoroki passed the ball to her and it all made sense.

"The hero commission!"

"Izuku's next target would be them, they are the ones that put all the rules on the pros and control basically anything related to them." Shinsou summarized before letting out a sigh. "Now we just need to figure out when he’ll do it and how to stop him."

“We’ll just have to hit him fast and hard!” Bakugo exclaimed with a crack of his knuckles and wild smile.

“Are you forgetting the fact that he might have a shit ton of quirks we don't know about?” Himiko tried reminding them that her brother was currently the human form of a nuclear bomb.

“Then we’ll hit harder.” Todoroki why?

===

Aizawa hates Nomus.

It has become an important part of himself as he looked at his broken right arm and heavily bandaged chest (if it wasn't for Recovery Girl, he'd still be on his bed with a punctured lung.) one of the few large wounds he carried from the Kamino raid.

Next to him, humming a tune, was Hizashi who was in a wheelchair thanks to his broken legs and similarly broken left arm.

Although their wounds could be called light compared to others.

Endeavor had lost an eye and a few fingers thanks to his fight against a Nomu with similar fire powers. Best Jeanist lost one of his arms and is currently hospitalized as he was put in a coma. Miruko lost one of her arms and leg in a direct confrontation with one of the High-end monsters but seemed quite happy with getting prosthetics.

Many others had also lost a limb or two and not to say the number of people they had lost.

But they weren't done, mourning could come later.

A nurse finally approached them with a kind smile. "Kayama is all ready to meet you both." Aizawa nodded while Hizashi gave her a thank you.

Pushing him forward, the two reached the hospital room where their friend was resting, still only a week after Remnant had stabbed her at the sports festival.

Back then she was pale and barely conscious but now, with more color in her face, she greeted them both with a smile.

"Wow, look at the two of you, I close my eyes to take a nap and you get yourselves injured." She scolded them, but there was no edge to her words.

"We missed you too, Nemuri." Hizashi smiled as Aizawa moved him next to her bed and he took a seat.

"At least it seems like you two had fun." Aizawa huffed.

"If you describe fun as the worst mosh pit in existence then yes, it was fun." Nemuri laughed at his grumbling before letting out a small hiss of pain.

"Oh man, it stings when I laugh."

"Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should lay down." Hizashi fussed, but she just waved away his worries.

"Nah, the doctors already said I was going to heal, just nothing too excessive for my core, which apparently includes laughing." The blonde still looked worried but if it was the doctor's words then he'd have to accept it.

The three of them sit in silence, relieved to be able to be in each other's presence.

The door to the room opens up and a male nurse peeks their head in. "Mister Yamada, you're due for a check up." Hizashi groans and the others just smile.

"Aaaalriiiight, we'll get out of your hair now Nemuri." Aizawa stood up to push his wheelchair but the nurse spoke once more.

"Oh, actually someone is looking for you, Mister Aizawa, they're waiting by the entrance." Said man raised an eyebrow, he didn't have anyone outside of Nemuri and Hizashi that would be worried about him so who…

"Ah." Aizawa let out a sound as the answer clicked. "Alright, I'll see them."

The nurse nodded as they helped move Hizashi instead, Nemuri gave him a curious look but he just waved her away as he walked out.

As expected, as he walked towards the entrance, he spotted Nezu patiently waiting for him. "Good afternoon Aizawa, it looks like your injuries are healing fine."

"They are, but I know you didn't just come here to check on me, what happened?" If Nezu was here then that only means one thing.

"Remnant brought us something that you might find interesting." Nezu's cryptid words made him feel uneasy, but he couldn't turn away when it came to his problem child.

"Fine, where is it?"

"In due time Aizawa, secrets shouldn't be said in such open places." The white rat then walked out, the dark haired man following behind until they entered a black limo.

"To inform you, the night you and the other heroes did the Kamino raid, Remnant took his chance and stopped Tomura from releasing his own group of Nomus." Aizawa simply nodded, it wasn't a surprise the kid managed that.

"But the surprise happened after it was done. I received a message from him to meet up and to bring along a pair of quirk canceling cuffs."

"To my surprise, he managed to capture one of the villains."

Aizawa's throat went dry. There was only one reason as to why Izuku would spare them, one based on a promise he made to him.

"Are you sure?" His question came out desperate.

"If Remnant's word is to be trusted, then yes."

The animal's words sent a wave of emotion to crash over Aizawa, the simple idea of Oboro to still be alive, to have been turned into something else, it was both cathartic and terrifying.

Their ride continued on in silence as Nezu let Aizawa process his emotions until the car finally stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse.

The inside was completely abandoned, random objects covered by a thick coat of dust but what drew their attention was the perfectly square hole in the middle of the room.

It looked man made and as he watched Nezu casually walk down it was most likely made by Izuku with one of his quirks so, with some hesitation, he followed the rat.

The stone staircase goes on for only a few minutes but, as more and more thoughts clash inside of his head, it feels like it stretches on for hours.

The stairs end in a short empty hallway, he can see Izuku and Tsutsumi ahead standing in front of a large wall of glass. The retired pro is the first one to spot them.

"You're here, good." She only glances at them before turning back to look at whatever is on the other side. "The kid said this was important to you."

His blood freezes once more because it's him. He hasn't seen him but there is no other answer.

"I wish your reunion could have been in a better place, but you have to understand that he's still…" Izuku doesn't look at them, but he doesn't have to finish to understand.

Dangerous.

Oboro is dangerous.

The words just don’t feel right to Aizawa, like they shouldn’t go together. Oboro, the kindest person he’s ever met, the boy he watched give up his life for others is a potential danger, the mere thought threatened to pull him apart.

He forces himself to look at the glass, and what he sees is a humanoid cloud of purple mist heavily restrained with a straightjacket and multiple quirk nullifying restraints, most likely sourced by Nezu. His fist shakes as he stares at the twisted form of his friend.

“Can I see him?” he fails to keep his voice steady. “Under all of that, can I see his face?”

He can feel Izuku’s stare on him but he keeps himself composed. Izuku, on the other hand, silently touches the glass and, in an instant, a perfect rectangle piece is cut out from it and slides forward and out of his way.

Aizawa watches with bated breath as Izuku approaches the unconscious villain, the boy places a hand on his shoulder and suddenly-

The mist thins but it’s more than enough.

His face is much older, sharper around the edges, and he even sees a few new wrinkles and scars scattered across, but it’s him . The same wavy light blue hair and even the same white bandage over his nose, it was all still there.

Aizawa didn’t even notice the moment Tsutsumi had grabbed him by his good arm, his legs were trembling and his vision had become blurry with tears, Oboro looked so similar and yet so different at the same time.

All those years he spent mourning, the sleepless nights as he was plagued by nightmares, all of that feels so small now because he is here, he’s alive.

Izuku walks back through the glass as it fixes itself behind him. “The brainwashing is rooted really deep, it’s going to take me a while to get rid of it and even then… I don’t know if it’s going to work.” Izuku doesn’t want to take all of their hope away, in his timeline while there were glimpses of Oboro they didn’t have the chance to truly reach out to him so this is one of the few things that Izuku doesn’t know.

“This is already more than any of us could have asked for, thank you Remnant.” Nezu thanked the boy as Aizawa shed tears for his old friend.

Nagant carefully leads Aizawa to sit on the floor, his forehead and hand pressed carefully on the glass as his body shakes with every breath. Nagant and Izuku shared a glance before nodding at each other; they couldn’t stay here too long.

“Izuku.” But Nezu’s voice stops the boy before they could begin to climb the stairs, neither of them turn to the other but they know they are listening.

“I won’t say that I understand your decisions or the emotions that drive you towards your goal.” The white rat says. “Your situation is one of a kind after all, but I want you to know that we will do our best as you have done for us.”

Izuku stayed quiet, but Nagant saw in the corner of her eye the way Izuku’s hands trembled.

“In a week then?” the boy asks.

“In a week.” and the rat confirms.

The countdown for the last act begins.